The Princess of D'Hara
by Lily Rahl
Summary: This is the story of Richard and Kahlan somewhere after book 4. It introduces a new character, who has an entirely new power, very rare even in the Midlands. Richard and Kahlan will take kindly to her and will try to rescue her.   This is my first fanfiction ever! Hope you like it!  Please let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it!
1. Chapter 1

**Trapped in time, somewhere between the past, present and future…**

**S**he opened her eyes abruptly. She was lying in a forest. It was dark. The only way to see was through the silver beams of the moon reflected in a lake nearby. It was cold, but she realized it only because of the sound of her teeth. It was like she didn't actually perceive the temperature. She tried to stand, but she realized she was just doing that mechanically, not because she wanted to. Suddenly she felt pain, not because of the cold, not because of the dark, but an icy pain in her head. There was no way of stopping it. She didn't know where she was, but most importantly there was a question wandering in her mind and causing her the blazing pain 'Who am I?'

**Chapter 1-The echo of the unsaid words  
><strong>  
>The gentle rays of sunlight fell on her face. She turned on her side opening her eyes slowly as if the eyelashes where too heavy to lift. He smiled at her.<br>'Good morning!'-he greeted her, his eyes sparkling.  
>'Good morning Lord Rahl!'-she replied planting a kiss on his lips.<br>But he wasn't satisfied by only one kiss. He pulled her up and kissed her good morning in the Rahl way. At least that's what she called it. She smiled while his lips were still on hers. Then he pulled back, studying the whiteness of the skin of her shoulders. She giggled noticing his look moving down. Then he asked:  
>'You tired?' and he kissed her temple. Her hair got into his way so he kissed her dark hair instead, but she liked it anyway.<br>'Well I didn't get much of a sleep last night now, did I?' she smiled at him again and for some minutes he gazed into her emerald eyes amazed. She looked back at him. Their bond seemed ethereal.  
>None of them wanted to talk, even though Kahlan had something to say.<br>She had to tell him sooner or later but the fear of the prophecy that terrible woman had foretold halted her. As if reading her thoughts through the chain of their eyes, Richard asked:  
>'Is there something wrong?' his inquisitive gray eyes scanned her.<br>For a moment she thought that maybe that was the right time to tell him everything, but her voice didn't allow her to and instead she heard herself say in a reassuring tone:  
>'I am fine. Everything's fine.' And just in case he didn't believe her, which she was sure he wouldn't, she kissed him again before slipping out of the bed.<br>'Since when you distract me with kisses?' he asked playfully following her out of the bed and kissing her shoulder before starting to get dressed as well.  
>'It's nothing Richard…'but this time her voice trembled more than it should have. She immediately took control though. 'Remember you promised Zedd you would go with him somewhere?'<p>

Richard could feel there was something bothering her and it wasn't just something. However, he also knew she perhaps needed time to process everything. He tried to suppress the feeling of his gut that Kahlan wasn't telling him something important. He turned his look at her as she straightened her white Confessor's dress.  
>'Yeah, now I remember.' he said after a while trying to let Kahlan know that he dropped the issue.<br>'I can come too.' she said playfully noticing his gaze from the mirror. 'If you assess I won't distract you from the pray.'  
>He finally relaxed. He reached for her putting his arm around her belly and his head on her shoulder like a little child. They were both looking at their reflection on the mirror. She liked it when he hugged her that way. It made her feel lulled by his touch and protected. He rolled his hand and turned her face towards his.<br>'I love you, Mother Confessor.'  
>'And I love you, Lord Rahl.'<p>

They would have normally kissed, but the knock on the door didn't allow that. Since they were ready they both left. Accompanied by two Mord-sith and his two bodyguards Richard entered the hall. Kahlan was behind him accompanied by Cara.  
>'Lord Rahl has got you kinda tired these days.' Cara pointed out with a meaningful smile dancing in her eyes. Kahlan smiled too.<br>'I am fine, Cara. Thank you for your concern, though.'

The hall was a little dark and Kahlan felt a sharp smell in the air. She wasn't feeling that well. She dismissed the thought, since that would mean acknowledging that something was wrong. However the feeling she had was quite unusual. She felt confused and lost like she were somewhere she didn't know. Blaming the lack of sleep, she put the thoughts aside.

'Can you picture the Lord Rahl hunting when he could have everyone begging him to bring him something?' Cara's sharp comments usually put Kahlan in a good mood but that day she felt a little distracted.  
>'I don't need to picture him, Cara. He is right here.' she smiled while her gaze ran though his tall body caressing it fondly.<br>'Mother Confessor, are you all right?' Cara asked, but this time she didn't try to hide her concern.  
>'I am fine.' replied Kahlan with a smile. 'I was just thinking that the unimaginable thing is seeing Zedd invite Richard for a hunt.'<br>Cara smiled in a kind of relief while Zedd said from the horse in front of her:  
>'I hear you child. And just so you two know, I was very able once.'<br>'A Wizard of the First Order hunting pheasants and deers. How did I miss that?' Cara said causing a chain of laughter.

Suddenly they heard a noise coming from the bushes. Richard got down, but before he could get close the two Mord-Sith got before him handing their Agiels.  
>'Whoever you are show yourself.' Richard ordered.<br>Two men came out of the bushes. Even though Richard wasn't wearing his normal Rahl clothes, but only some comfortable ones, everyone knew he was the Lord Rahl. The startled look in their eyes was not because of the sight of the Agiels even though that would have been more than enough. Kahlan saw the fright, the actual terror at seeing Richard. She thought to herself that this was owing to his post. Nevertheless there were times when Richard's look _was_ haunting.  
>'We are sorry to have disturbed you Lord Rahl.' said one of the men kneeling.<br>Richard didn't seem to be convinced that their words were genuine as they told him they were only having a walk. Instead he asked to everybody's surprise of his sharp ears:  
>'Then why were you talking about a girl at the inn?' it seemed that they weren't the only one to be taken aback by that because Kahlan got on the ground next to him wondering how Richard had managed to be precise. But trusting his instinct, she told the man:<br>'You know you must tell the truth to the Mother Confessor'.  
>The other man then started talking awe-stricken.<br>'You see, Lord Rahl, we were not doing anything wrong we swear. We just heard there was a girl in town that had some strange magic and we thought we might get to see something, you know, special.' While the man told them about the inn where he and his friend had been, Richard seemed to have been devoured in a wind of silence that prevented him from listening. The cause had been just that one word: magic. Before the man had even finished to tell the way the girl supposedly entertained the people, Zedd said abruptly.  
>'Richard, we should go check.'everyone turned looking at him, puzzled. Everyone except Richard.<br>'But Zedd' Kahlan complained 'it's just an entertainer, nothing serious I suppose.'  
>Zedd turned to the men kneeling in front of Richard<br>'What exactly could the girl do?' he asked with a strange look in his eyes.  
>'Well…you see there was this woman that told us this girl could feel anything, so she hit somebody else and the girl in the other side of the room felt it too cos her face got red.'<p>

Kahlan saw Zedd's face turn red with anger as he shouted at the men.  
>'And you thought that fun, you thought that was 'entertaining'? I should turn you to ash with Wizard's fire.'<br>'What is it, Zedd?' Richard asked seeing the two men petrified. 'What kind of magic is that?'  
>'A very powerful one.' Kahlan intervened. 'It's called the Maternity Spell.'<br>'What's a Maternity Spell?'Cara asked without taking her sky-blue eyes from the men, threatening them with her fierce look that they would be sorry if they moved.  
>'I think it's far worse than that, child.' Zedd said talking to Kahlan.<br>'Worse?' Kahlan's eyes took a worried look. 'What do you mean?'  
>Richard turned to Zedd as well with the same question glowing in his eyes. Then Zedd asked them to follow him, leaving the men and the Mord-Sith behind.<br>'I fear Shota was right.' He started not hiding his concern.  
>'Shota? Why the heck would you mention her?' Richard asked unconsciously looking at the black necklace around Kahlan's neck, the one Shota had given them to prevent her from bearing a child. She had sworn to kill every child that could be parented by Richard and Kahlan. He noticed a sudden sadness in Kahlan's eyes. Having lost a child, after being heavily beaten, Kahlan had never fully recovered or maybe forgiven herself, he thought, for not having protected the life inside her. He could see her eyes fill with tears. She thought he wasn't looking.<p>

Zedd continued. 'This was the reason, the real one, I asked you to come here today.'  
>His tone was apologetic. He knew Richard always demanded the truth no matter how hard it was to digest. 'I am sorry for lying to you, Richard.' The excuse sounded a little inadequate even though it came from Zedd, but Richard was too curious and angry so he dropped the issue.<br>'What did she say this time?' he asked sarcasm billowing out of his mouth along with the question.  
>'She said we would meet an empath'. Zedd replied immediately arrowed by Kahlan's look. She knew what he was talking about.<br>'I thought there were no more empaths in the world' Kahlan said. 'I thought they had all been killed.'  
>'That was the answer I gave Shota, but she said this was different. She said it would be a girl'<br>'Hey, will somebody explain to me what an empath is?' Richard asked in frustration.  
>'An empath, my boy, is the one gifted with empathy. Basically, this person can feel everything that happens to another person. Since there haven't been many in the past millenniums, we don't know exactly to what extent does their power go. But, taking what those men told us about the girl, I think she is an empath and I think she is held captive.'<br>'Why would somebody do that?' Kahlan asked in angst. 'Who would find it entertaining to hit a child?'  
>'I think you already know the answer.' Zedd replied pointing his chin to the two men recoiled in fear a few feet away.<br>'The last empath I know about lived several hundred years ago. Their creation is mysterious, too.' Zedd said still looking at the men.  
>'Creation?' Richard asked. 'What do you mean?'<br>Kahlan answered instead.  
>'According to the legend, empathy is not a gift given by birth as the Confessor's power or wizards' powers. It is a gift received by a kind of casual selection.'<br>'Casual selection? We are not talking about some pigs waiting to be slaughtered; we are talking about children that can feel everything that happens around them. How can they live like that?' Understanding his frustration and anger, Kahlan put her hand on his arm and squeezed it in a loving tone.  
>Zedd continued. 'The first empath was not born. He was created. It is said that they was once a wood carver, a very talented one who possessed a kind of magic that made his sculptures talk to the people they were taken to. However, at night, these pieces of wood would turn into their worst nightmares. The legend says the wood carver wasn't a bad man, he didn't do it out of malice, but he couldn't stop taking sculptures out of logs. So he went to a witch who granted him the power to transmit something more than evil to his masterpieces. She gave him empathy.'<br>Kahlan remembered her child-like wonder the first time she had heard the story. It had been one of her favorites when she was a little girl.  
>'So his sculptures would feel the pain the people who possessed them had, and instead of embodying nightmares, they kept them away, kind of a talisman.' Zedd finishes and he seemed just like a loving grandfather telling bedtime stories, more than a wizard worried because of Shota's words.<br>'You said empaths were created.' Richard pointed out. 'If he was the first empath, did his children have empathy as well?'  
>'No.' Kahlan answered. 'Only the children that had another power coming from their mother could have empathy. Empathy is supposed to numb an evil power.'<br>'However we don't know how empaths came to live. They are called Listeners of Feeling.' Zedd finished standing up from the cut log he had been sitting in order to tell his story.  
>'We have to rescue the girl.' Richard stated as if he wouldn't accept any contradiction. However Kahlan was convinced as he was, that whoever was doing that deserved to be punished. She had to help the law prevail.<p>

After only a couple of minutes, they were headed towards the inn. Kahlan could not help feeling a shiver up and down her spine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Who is she?**

**T**hey spotted the door in the distance. The brownish wooden door contrasted with the greenness of the surroundings. It was quite an isolated inn. The windows slammed gently when caressed by the wind as the approaching storm cast its last warnings.  
>Richard was leading while the two Mord-Sith dragged the two men with them. Kahlan got next to Richard. She wasn't afraid. Or maybe she was. She just couldn't figure that out. She just wanted to feel near him, he was there to protect her no matter what and she found comfort in that thought. As if reading the signals emanated by her heart, he gently grabbed her hand and gave it a quick kiss whispering:<br>'It's gonna be OK.' She smiled at him, trying to reassure herself of his words, but there was a feeling, an indistinguishable feeling inside her that nagged at her, something indescribable that took the wind from her lungs. But, it wasn't fear. Kahlan wasn't the kind of person to be easily scared. Her threshold for fear was pretty high after everything they had been through. She pushed the thought away with effort and squeezed Richard's hand again.

He didn't knock. He didn't need to. He was the Lord Rahl and all the houses of the Midlands and D'Hara were bound to his service. There was something about this whole situation that he didn't like. Maybe it was his gift again. Kahlan kept telling him that his gift helped him sense danger. Maybe she was right. He took his hand away from Kahlan's to open the door. The other hand was on the hilt of the sword, the Sword of Truth.  
>The door squeaked open only to reveal a dark damp room. There was no source of light or heat. The smell was pretty awful. And then he saw her. The moment he looked at her, he realized what it was that had attracted him most, magic. There was a big wooden table in the middle of the room. By opening the door, he gave free access to the light which fought to give them visual. Despite the darkness, Richard stepped in, with Kahlan following immediately behind. At the sight of the girl in front of them, a wail escaped Kahlan's lips and she clutched at Richard's shirt. He felt her same heartache, like a knife going slowly through his heart.<p>

On top of the table, there was the body of a girl. A child, just a child; couldn't be older than sixteen. There was a deep cut in her right arm; the clotted blood covered her hand. Her arm hanged limp, but it was tied to a rope that went over her slender body as well. Her legs and foot were tangled in it too. He was still staring at her body believing she was dead with Kahlan sobbing softly behind him, when she saw the girl breathe.

'Kahlan, wait' she turned facing her. 'She's still alive. Zedd, please Zedd help her.' he swept out and made his way back in with the wizard.

They both had to squint in order to see. Zedd reached the girl. Judging by all the bruises in her skin and the deep cut in her arm, it was a miracle that she was still breathing. Richard could only tell because of the fine motion of her chest, as if the breath of life was too stubborn to leave this beautiful creature; she was so young. He reached Kahlan and embraced her while he tried to dry away her tears. Somehow he couldn't.

Zedd put his hands on the arm of the girl and then…  
>Kahlan collapsed to her knees, the flow of magic was going through her, too.<p>

'Kahlan, Kahlan what is it?' Richard's question floated for a few moments in her mind before being absorbed into its tissue without being processed. She couldn't move anymore, all she thought about was the magic getting into her soul.

_It was like being born anew, somehow everything wrong in her body was being changed, improved, sewed back together. She felt like a completed puzzle._  
>-<p>

Her gaze was fixed on his, but it was glacial. She wasn't really looking at him. He tried to repress the thought of panic seeping through him. He shook her, but her body moved with his hands like a mannequin, like a doll, not like a human being. It was as if life was being drained from her. He called for help but the Mord-Sith couldn't help him. Zedd's mind was still trying to heal the girl.

'Kahlan, please answer me. What's wrong? Kahlan!' he shook her arms so violently that she groaned. She wasn't conscious though. Then he thought about the breath of life. Denna had taught him.  
>He had to give her his breath of life.<br>She was there, but he had to make her surface. Holding her hand tightly hoping it could keep their souls intertwined, he breathed inside her mouth, trying to somehow revive her body.

The rapture of magic was filling all her cells with new energy, like being lost in a timeless place where there was nothing but light. Warm, bathing light. She was being trapped by magic. Richard. Where was he? Why did he leave her alone? Richard!

He immediately felt it had worked when Kahlan shared his breath. She gently opened her eyelids looking confused. Her hoarse voice managed to call his name.

'Kahlan, you're…you're here.' He kissed her fast and desperate. She blinked at him still confused while he hugged her and kissed her anxiously. 'Are you OK, baby?' he asked worried.  
>'I am…what… I just…' words got mixed with each-other, her mind couldn't seem to form a coherent thought, and her head was spinning. Richard continued to hold her.<p>

She couldn't seem to remember how she's ended up on the floor, but as long as his hands were caressing her, she was fine. So hard was it to force this thought to her brain, that all the effort took all her energies. She noticed the light emanated from Zedd's hands on the girl.  
>She felt as if the magic was calling her. Richard was hugging her tight.<br>He feared to let her move; it would mean she'd move away.  
>'It's…Richard…' she tried to say. He cupped her face with both his hands.<br>'What is it my love? You're fine now, you're gonna be fine' he kissed her nose and then planted a kiss on her lips, but it felt as if she weren't there. 'Kahlan, Kahlan look at me! What's wrong?'

He noticed that Zedd took his hands away from the girl and he saw her move her fingers. As relieved as he was for the girl, he was dying from concern over Kahlan.  
>What happened? She just collapsed to the floor. What was wrong with her?<br>She wasn't answering to his questions or responding to his kisses, her vision seemed blurry, she wasn't moving. He started to panic. It was like she had been pulled away.  
>And then, it dawned on him.<br>Magic.  
>Zedd was using magic.<br>It had to be that, Kahlan had fainted when Zedd used his magic to heal the girl. But, why only Kahlan? Tears welled up in her eyes and started streaming down her face.

'Richard...' she managed to whisper. 'Richard, who is she?'

Kahlan clutched at his shirt as if clutching for dear life. All the kind of emotions were colliding and she couldn't display one in particular. It was as if they were choking her, it was as if she was drowning in her tears. But they weren't really her tears. She felt miserable and put her head on Richard's chest as he tried to calm her down. It wasn't working though. Something was definitely wrong, but she couldn't grasp it. She noticed Cara's worried look following her moves. She wanted to reassure her, to reassure Richard, but she only managed to stay attached to him.

When noticing them there, Zedd decided to get out and ordered the men to carry the girl out. They needed to send her to the castle. He had managed to close her wounds, but she had lost a lot of blood.

As they arranged for her transportation, he reached Cara to inquire about Kahlan.  
>'What happened?' he asked.<br>'You were there, you saw it, like I did.' Cara replied never lifting her gaze from the men. She never underestimated her duty to protect the Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor.  
>'Cara, you know that when I am in the flow of healing magic, I don't know what happens around. What in the name of the spirits happened?'<br>'I don't know. It happened so fast. One moment she was standing and then she fell. Richard grabbed her before she hit her head.' She replied looking perplexed. 'I hate magic.' She emphasized trying to move away. Zedd grabbed her arm:  
>'Did it happen immediately after I started healing the girl?' he asked.<br>'I didn't see that Wizard, I was more worried about her than about your magic tricks. It seemed like she was being sucked up, she just stared at him. It was terrifying' she replied sharply moving her arm away.  
>Mord-Sith were afraid of hardly anything, excepted magic. D'Harans in general were afraid of magic.<br>'She seemed possessed.' she added not facing him. She didn't want him to dwell on the fear displayed in her eyes.  
>'Possessed?' He asked, but he didn't really expect an answer. He was afraid Shota had been right. That girl was an empath. What had just happened proved it. He might have just saved the life of a very powerful person.<br>Powerful enough to destroy them.

Richard got out holding Kahlan in his arms as the two men brought the girl out in stretcher. Kahlan had managed to stop crying. He felt her breath warm his neck and the delicate fragrance emanating from her skin and her hair made him feel the joy of having her with him. He wanted nothing more than her from life. One brief moment could have taken her from him. He planted a kiss on the top of her head. No matter how hard he fought the thought of danger, he couldn't repress it.

All his worries proved true to him when the two men brought out the girl's frail body. Abruptly, she opened her eyes and looked at him. He felt frozen, paralyzed. His heart skipped a beat. She blinked gently, her gaze locked on him. It was as if her whole face was frozen and she could only communicate with her eyes, which had that timeless look he had noticed so many times before. But it wasn't the magic he saw in her that worried him.  
>It was her whole being.<br>There was only one person he knew that had that intense gaze, that special green sparkle that seemed to inundate everything around, that flash of intelligence.  
>Kahlan.<br>When the girl looked at him, it was just like when Kahlan did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The grace of a secret**

**H**e had been holding her hand for the whole night and all the following day. He never left, never left her alone. She could feel his presence. She had managed to squeeze his hand back from time to time, but she felt exhausted.  
>Kahlan opened her eyes. Her first instinct was to put her hand over her belly and then she looked at Richard.<br>'Kahlan! You're awake.' he whispered taking her hand in both of his.  
>'Richard.' she pulled her body up and managed to kiss his hands holding hers. The sound of her voice took him bit by bit till he was totally its slave. He loved her voice.<br>'Kahlan!' his voice didn't hide his concern. 'You shouldn't move, at least for a little more.'  
>'The urge to kiss you is too strong, Lord Rahl.' she replied playfully as he tucked her back in bed. He kissed her lips softly. By the way she kissed him back, he knew she was fine.<p>

She blinked.  
>Her gaze embraced the surroundings. She didn't remember where she was, she didn't know where she was. She blinked again. There was light, actual light coming from somewhere. A window, maybe. She couldn't move.<br>She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. There was a very nice aroma in the air. She savored it gleefully. Something soft was caressing her bruised skin.  
>Silk.<br>She hadn't thought silk sheets would feel so good. Her vision started to settle around her. It wasn't blurry anymore.  
>Before her came the vision of a woman, tall, wearing a blinding-white dress. She had long hair that fondled her shoulders. She was very beautiful. She had green eyes that looked worried, but nevertheless she smiled at her.<br>'Morning. How are you feeling?' the way her smile got caught up in her eyes making them brighter was astounding. She managed to return the smile.  
>'Do you need anything?' Kahlan continued.<br>'Wa…' her voice came hoarse so she decided to wait a few seconds. 'Wa…ter… Water. I'd like some water, please.'  
>The woman's eyes shone again as if she was happy she could help. She brought a glass to her lips and by keeping her head up, helped her drink. Then she sat on her bed.<br>'Thank you.' the girl replied politely, trying to sit up.  
>'No, no.' Kahlan stopped her before she could make a pointless effort by saying she wasn't strong enough. Even though she was ordering her to lie down, the gentleness of her voice prevented her from being harsh. Lily surrendered to that thought.<br>'What's your name?' Kahlan asked.  
>'I… don't really know, I mean…' this was going to be a <em>very<em> long story.  
>Kahlan had her gaze locked on her. Somehow she seemed to understand, or maybe she wanted to make her feel understood. Lily thought she was managing to do that.<br>'It's OK.' Kahlan continued. 'Maybe you don't remember cos of… what happened. It's only been a couple of days.'  
>'They called me Lily.' the girl whispered wanting to please her.<br>'Lily? That's a very beautiful name.' said Kahlan in an apprehensive tone somehow surprised by the odd answer. 'My name is Kahlan.'  
>'That's a very beautiful name too.' Lily smiled.<br>'Do you remember anything that happened?' Kahlan asked hesitantly.  
>Lily looked away. How was she going to explain all the weird things that had happened to her ever since that night when she found herself in the forest? Kahlan seemed a very nice person, but it wasn't just what she seemed like, it was her feelings, the feelings radiated from her, there was so much love around this woman.<br>'I only remember the man, the one that was holding you. I think I saw him when… when I woke up.' she lied. She remembered perfectly what had happened before, but she was sure that would get Kahlan sad or maybe worse.  
>She had been aware of what was happening around her when the man and Kahlan had entered the room.<br>She had felt what had happened to Kahlan, she didn't want to hurt her anymore.  
>'Is he…your husband?' she asked her face turning crimson.<br>Kahlan smiled at her, the magic of it entangling in her eyes. Lily saw how much she loved him, it was as Kahlan's feelings readable in her eyes.  
>Kahlan could make her gift bearable. She wished all the feelings transmitted to her were that pure.<br>'Yes, he is. His name is Richard.'  
>'I have to thank you both.' Lily said. 'You saved my life. Thank you!'<br>'We're just glad that you're OK.' Kahlan replied in a motherly tone. 'You should rest.' She added and tucked her in, moving the blanket further up so she wouldn't be cold. 'I'll be here is you need anything. Don't be scared. No one is going to hurt you here.' Lily managed a nod. Sleep came to her in a couple of minutes.

Kahlan's reassuring voice was a sweet lullaby, she believed her; she believed they'd keep her safe.

'How's she?'Cara asked, trying as she might to hide her concern. Kahlan smiled. 'She's better, now.' She whispered casting a glance around. She had been there for most of the day.  
>'You need to rest, Mother Confessor. You shouldn't exhaust yourself. I can guard her.' Cara suggested.<br>'Well…maybe it is a good idea. I do have things to do.' Kahlan stood up and offered Cara the chair, but the scowl that appeared in Cara's face made her change her mind.

She left the room and made her way towards the kitchens. When she entered, everyone bowed to her as customary. She was looking for Mistress Sanderholt.  
>'Good day, Mother Confessor.' she greeted.<br>'Good day to you.' Kahlan responded impatiently. There was a myriad of things she was worried about, but this was essential. She had to know.  
>'I need you to do something for me. I need you to find a healer… ehm… a trusted one. Bring her here, but do not tell her, I asked for her. It's of the utmost importance that you don't tell her. Do you understand?'<br>'Of course, Mother Confessor.' she bowed again before leaving.

Her steps echoed in the polished granite walls of the great hall. She needed to find Zedd. Something had definitely happened the moment they had found Lily, magic. She just felt strange. She only remembered being on her knees, the rest of it was gone, like erased from her memory. She needed to ask him that. And the empath prediction, she wasn't sure if Lily _was_ the empath. She had never met one, she wasn't sure how they looked like, but Lily seemed a very sweet child.  
>There was something about her; it made Kahlan want to protect her, maybe her fragility or maybe something else.<p>

She got to the stables before finding an answer to the plethora of questions residing in her head. She knew Zedd had to be in the Wizard's Keep searching for the same answers she was. She made her way towards him.

-  
>'It has to be that.' Zedd thought to himself while his gaze embraced the big old book in front of him. But, Kahlan would have told him, or at least she would have told Richard. Confessors knew about that far too early than usual. Could it be?<br>Then he thought about Shota's prophecy and realized that Shota was cause of more harm than he could imagine. He had to confront Kahlan. What had happened did not have any other explanation, but he didn't want to accept this one.  
>He heard some steps and then he heard a voice.<br>'Zedd? I need to talk to you. It's me, Kahlan.' Her voice echoed frightfully. She couldn't get past all the magical shields so she needed Zedd.  
>'Kahlan? What, in the name of spirits, are you doing out of bed?' he asked hugging her lovingly.<br>'Oh, I am more than fine. I need to talk to you.'  
>'All right, child. As a matter of fact, I need to talk to you, too.' he grabbed her hand and got her past the shields.<p>

'Hi!' he smiled at her.  
>'Hello.' Lily replied shyly. She pulled herself up and sat up in bed.<br>Richard stood in front of her. He was somehow different from when she'd seen him a few days before. He was wearing a magnificent cloak and had brands in both his wrists. He sat next to her. Even though, he seemed friendly and what she was getting from him was only affection, she recoiled when he got close. He seemed to understand so he moved further away.  
>'I am Richard.' he introduced himself. 'You are welcome here.' he added.<br>'My name is Lily.' she answered raising her hand towards him.  
>His lips curled into a smile at the formality, but he took her hand nevertheless.<br>'Nice to meet you, Lily.' he added looking at her in the eyes again. He shook his head and got up. Her eyes were mesmerizing.  
>'You have a very beautiful house.' Lily added looking around. The room she was in was huge, the rooms she had had before were as large as this room's closet.<br>'Aydindril is quite a beautiful place, I agree.' smiled he.  
>'Aydindril? We're in Aydindril. Then…Kahlan… she's the Mother Confessor?' Lily tried to hide her terror at knowing the truth, but she couldn't.<p>

Kahlan couldn't be the Mother Confessor. How come she hadn't seen it? She was usually able to percept people's character through their feelings. How was it possible it hadn't worked this time? Kahlan seemed so nice, she couldn't be the Mother Confessor.

'Yes.' Richard smiled. He noticed her uneasiness. 'Don't worry; you'll see there's nothing to fear. She is an amazing person.' His love for her was crystal clear. Lily couldn't have been so wrong. 'Lily, do you remember anything that happened to you?' he asked without realizing she wasn't listening to him anymore.  
>'I…no, I don't remember anything.' she added quickly, looking scared of him. Not wanting to add insult to the injury, he decided to leave and be back with Kahlan. She'd know how to calm her down.<br>'OK, don't worry. You're safe now. We're not gonna let anything happen to you.' he made his way to the door. 'If you need anything, just ask Cara here. She's here to protect you, or send for me.' Lily nodded and he left.

She waited a couple of minutes while the sound of his footsteps wore off and then she got out of bed. She noticed the dress on her chair nearby. It was gorgeous; light blue with golden strings on the chest and laces going around the arms. It seemed her seize. She looked for her own dress, but it was nowhere to be found. It had been torn to rags anyway, so she got into the blue one as soon as she could. She needed to get out.  
>If Kahlan was really the Mother Confessor, then she was in danger.<br>She needed to leave.  
>She had to think of a way to go past the guards though.<p>

-  
>'Kahlan, answer me. You have to tell me. Do you realize you could have died? Zedd's anger scared her. Zedd wasn't usually angry and never like that. She felt her cheeks and her ears burning.<br>She had to tell Richard first.  
>He should be the one to know first.<br>'Zedd, please. I am fine. Just… let it go.' she replied as she made her way toward the entrance.  
>'Kahlan, you have to tell me. Are you, are you with child?' Zedd insisted. She turned facing him tears brimming in her eyes.<br>She had wanted this to be different.  
>Her tears were answer enough. He hugged her tight. It was his grand grand child she was carrying.<br>'How… are you OK?' he asked. She nodded, but there were still tears in her eyes. 'Why…haven't you told Richard, yet?' he asked.  
>'I…I don't know. I just… Shota's words…what if it is indeed a boy?' her eyes came to him as he looked at her apprehensively. He needed to reassure her, as a father would.<br>'Kahlan, listen to me. You can't let Shota's words dictate your actions. That is a child of love, you have to tell Richard. He is the only one that can help. You owe it to him, to your love, and to her.' Zedd said. She only nodded.  
>'How…how did you know?' she asked wiping away her tears.<br>'I might not know a lot of things about empaths, but the books in here do. You saved that girl's life, Kahlan, you and your baby…saved her.' he went towards the big wooden table.  
>'What do you mean?' Kahlan asked. '<em>You<em> saved her with _your _magic.'  
>'That's what I thought too, but had you not been there, my magic wouldn't have worked.' She blinked at him in astonishment so he started to explain.<br>'Unlike other kinds of magic which have specific rules, empathy has no rules. You must know, I suppose, that those who possess empathy possess other types of magic, too. Empathy is said to suppress an evil power that would corrupt the person.' Kahlan nodded so he went on. 'Well, I don't exactly know how the girl uses her powers or even which powers she possesses for that matter, but I do know this. She clanged at your child for survival.'  
>'I don't understand.'<br>'The frailest living thing in there was in that room, was the baby growing inside your womb. I guess she redirected her flow of magic towards the baby so that you would, somehow, keep her alive.'  
>'By protecting your child, by helping him grow inside you, you give him life, and that's what her power sought, protection and life. She empathed your baby's life, that's why she started breathing only after you went in. She was still alive, but barely. Had you not been there, my magic wouldn't have worked.'<br>Kahlan looked at him astonished. She couldn't believe Lily had connected her life with her baby. Did it mean she would always feel what her baby did? She would have liked to embrace her arms around her belly, but she didn't dare to.  
>She wasn't ready yet.<p>

However a joyful thought sprang in her mind. Her baby was going to help people. _She _had saved a life before even being born yet. Kahlan wished more than anything it would be a '_she_'.  
>'So that's why I felt it too?' Kahlan asked. 'It was happening inside me too.'<br>A thought of panic got its claws in her mind. 'But Zedd, if all that magic made me feel that way, what…could she… could…?' She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat.  
>'Could she have hurt the baby?' Zedd completed the question. 'I believe not, but if you want I will check her for you.' Kahlan felt her face go crimson and her ears burning.<br>'I already called for a healer, Zedd.' She managed to whisper past her choking concern.  
>'I …I didn't mean that way.' Zedd replied embarrassed. 'I meant…' he directed his hands in front of her belly, without touching her. Flashes of blue light came from his hands, while Kahlan looked at him anxiously.<br>Suddenly, he bent to his knees, the light from his hands gone.  
>'Zedd, what's wrong? Zedd!' she helped him stand again.<br>'That child is the strongest magical being I have ever felt. She has shields, actual shields around herself.' He said breathlessly trying to keep his back straight.  
>'What? Is the baby OK?'she asked.<br>'I can't get my magic though the placenta, her shields are too strong, stronger than any I've felt. But… as far as I am concerned, she is fine.'  
>'You have a real grandchild of mine in there.' he smiled.<br>Relief swept through her very being.  
>'Everything will be OK, Kahlan.'<br>She smiled at him. Somehow, she felt the same way as she did when Richard said that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Roses were their guardians that night**

**S**he scanned the hall. It seemed empty. She cast another furtive glance around. No guards, no Mord-Sith. The way was clear. She tiptoed to the door and suddenly heard some steps.  
>'How could I be so stupid?' it was Cara that was talking. 'Mord-Sith are not stupid. How could she just lie to me?' she fumed at one of the guards who recoiled away at the sight of an angry Mord-Sith.<br>'She's just a child, Mistress Cara. Maybe… you know she was just afraid.' said the young man hoping it would calm her down. They were sure the girl couldn't make it out of the castle without being spotted, not to mention all the people everywhere, somebody would surely see her.  
>'Do you have children, Captain?' she asked, not because she was interested in the subject, but what he was saying made sense.<br>'As a matter of fact, I do.' he relaxed. 'They're such a joy, children I mean…' It wasn't necessary for Cara to talk; her scowl could have incinerated him on the spot.

Lily started running in the opposite direction from where the voices came from. She was sure there would be a lot of people around. The Mother Confessor would surely want to be protected. Evil tyrants usually did.  
>She was running through the halls, not knowing where she was and where she was headed. She just needed to feel she was doing something to save herself. She felt very confused. On one hand, there were the words they had told her, never to trust Confessors, they were evil people able to bend others to their will. That's how the Mother Confessor had united the Midlands, with her evil powers.<br>On the other hand, however, Lily hadn't imagined the Mother Confessor would be as pretty and kind as Kahlan was.  
>But, it wasn't just that. It was what Kahlan transmitted to her that she liked.<br>As she fought heedlessly to find a way out, she started thinking about her power. It was so simple now, that she couldn't figure out how her power worked.  
>When she saw somebody around her, she was able to sense all the feelings and emotions that the entanglement of brain and heart produced. What came from Richard and Kahlan was pure bliss. She had seen concern, even fright, but also an immense love she hadn't even believed possible. It made her smile helplessly.<p>

And then it came. _The price of going against her power._  
>Her screams filled the air, immediately colliding with the walls and echoing around. Her pain cut through the fabric of the air. It seemed like her head was on fire, like her cells were exploding.<br>She couldn't bear it anymore, she couldn't bear it again.  
>The first and only time, it had almost killed her. She was on the floor convulsing violently, unable to draw another breath. Her shrieks drew people around. She brought her hands to her head trying to somehow stop the blazing pain, but there was no way to halt it. Tears streamed down her eyes, leaving a wet trail on her face. She couldn't control the pain anymore.<br>She just lied there, crying, shaking while her own self disappeared bit by bit.

Richard was still looking for her in the eastern part of the castle. He noticed a couple of guards approaching. They gave a quick salute and stopped.  
>'Lord Rahl, we found her, but…she's not fine. It's magic.' They said struggling to catch their breath.<br>Richard didn't wait for them to finish, but he rushed to the western wing of the Confessor's Palace. 

The combust was visible from a couple of miles in the distance, but Kahlan worried something serious might have happened only after she was close. Guards were scattered in all directions, half staff of the castle was out. They were ostensibly afraid of something. Fearing the worst, she ran to the entrance, hoping she wasn't late. 

Her frail body was still shaking. She hadn't stopped crying and complaining about the pain. If he tried to touch her, her pain seemed to rise.  
>He had called the healer, but they didn't know what to do. He had had two riders go after Zedd, but he wasn't there yet. He didn't know what to do.<br>Whatever it was, Lily's pain was coming from magic, magic he didn't understand. He heard Kahlan's voice and saw the crowd scramble to make her space. She came panting next to him. Her eyes filled with tears. Lily was still crying.  
>'Lily, can you hear me? It's me, Kahlan. Listen to me.' she begged. If what Zedd had told her was true, she'd be able to help her. Maybe she was the only one that could. But Lily didn't respond. Richard grabbed her arm pulling her away.<br>'Kahlan, please get away from here. I'll call Zedd, he'll be able to help. I don't want you here, please. You know what happened last time.' She would have done nothing to displease him, but she believed she was the only one that could help.  
>'No, Richard. I have to help her.' She tried to break free, but he was pulling her gently away. 'Richard, I am the only one that can help her. Richard, please.' She implored him tears running down her face.<br>'Kahlan, you almost died, I won't lose you.' He was worried about her.  
>She clutched his hand and whispered lovingly 'Richard, please, I am begging you to trust me. Get these people away.'<p>

There was no need for him to order that. The Mord-Sith were making everybody part.  
>Lily was lying on the floor. Kahlan got to her knees and praying to the good spirits to guide her actions, she grabbed Lily's hand in hers.<br>Lily started shaking more violently, her gaze moving with it as if frozen in place. Kahlan knew it would hurt more, but she took Lily's hand and put it gently on her abdomen and holding her head in both her hands, she looked into her eyes trying to find the soul behind them.  
>'Lily, please listen to me. Stay alive. I am here.'<br>It took a few angst-ridden moment, but then the shaking stopped. Lily's tears damped her hands. Lily's gaze got fixed on hers for a couple of seconds. Kahlan saw the ashes of the sparkle of her eyes. Then the girl fainted.  
>Richard grabbed her shoulders withdrawing her. She was crying herself. She was sure to have felt magic going through her. She had to tell Richard. He needed to know. But she wanted it to be special, their moments, theirs alone.<br>'Please…hold me.' She murmured in a hushed tone. He held her to him while they were still sitting on the floor.  
>The healer informed them that Lily was fine now. She looked astounded, but being used to living in Aydindril, she knew odd things happened around there, especially ever since Richard had come.<p>

Richard turned Kahlan's face to his own, kissed her and with his thumbs wiped her tears away. 'You know, you were amazing.' He said under his breath as he moved her tears tenderly away from her face. 'That was pretty cool.'  
>She managed a smile and a soft laugh burbled up. His face turned serious.<br>'I don't know what you did, but that was great.'  
>He kissed her again. She hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. She felt as if harm was trying to get a look at them every day.<br>'How come trouble is always following us?' she wondered, but even that worry melted away as he cuddled her.  
>'I'd like to stay with her tonight.' She stated. He nodded and before lifting her up, kissed her forehead.<br>'You know, Mother Confessor,' he added playfully. 'I guess we've had enough adventures for a life time.' She laughed and put her arm around his waist. 

When they got into her room, she seemed fast asleep. She looked calm. The healer had informed them that she was fine now, she just needed rest.  
>They had sent for Zedd, who had claimed that maybe it had been her own magic to have done that to her. However, he didn't want to make assumptions and left to inquire into that.<br>It seemed almost impossible that only a few hours before, she had been in the cusp between life and death. Kahlan got into her bed and drew her tenderly to her. It was somehow odd, what she was feeling, as if that child whom she didn't really know was something she should protect. She felt this urge to worry about her. Richard kissed his fingers and sent her a kiss before opening the door to leave.  
>'Richard?'<br>'Yes?'  
>'I love you. I don't remember if I pointed that out.' she smiled at him, her special smile, the one he only gave to him.<br>'And I love you, my love.' He answered feeling that somehow everything would be fine, as he often told her.

She had to admit. The garden was wonderful. Maybe because it was early spring and the flower buds were just blooming, or maybe because it was early morning, and the dew was still on the flowers, everywhere, making them scintillate. A blanket of fluffy white clouds surveyed the sky. The bench she was sitting in was her favorite. There was a big oak tree next to it. Its leaves rustled gently in the morning breeze. The big book she had in her lap was keeping her company.

It had been amazing. Waking up after that terrible night, had been amazing. Kahlan had been next to her.  
>Maybe because Kahlan had saved her life, twice, or just maybe because of her character, Lily had taken kindly to her. And to Richard, as well.<br>He had taken her around the past week she had been in Aydindril. And none of them had asked any questions about her past. They had decided to wait. But, she felt she was ready to tell them. Her wounds had gradually closed and her skin was white again, her green eyes could sparkle freely without the fear of having to make some area of her face hurt.  
>She dragged her feet across the floor. The castle was just beginning to wake up. It was great how the castle seemed to breathe with the people. And it woke up, just like a human being, just like they did.<br>'Hey there, early-riser!' Cara saluted descending the stairs. 'Reading books again?' she asked pointing to the book she was carrying.  
>Lily smiled. 'Well didn't have good things to do at night, like…you know like other people around here.' Her impish smile got the better of her face.<br>'Listen to this little monster. I was up… patrolling, all night, you little…' Cara didn't manage to finish the sentence because Lily ran up the stairs saying 'The question is patrolling what?' Her giggles echoed around.  
>'Lily!'Cara shouted, but when Lily disappeared in the hall, a small smile caught her lips. She continued towards the main hall.<br>Everybody had come to like that child, and all in just a couple of weeks. She somehow reminded Cara of her old self. No one before had managed to make her past life's memories surface.  
>Kahlan had told her Lily had the ability to understand people and no matter how much it cost her to admit it, the only person around to ever have gotten past the thick walls around her, seemed to be Lily.<br>She had gotten into her heart awfully quick.

A gentle knock was heard on the door.  
>'Come in.' Lily replied in the ringing melody of her voice.<br>Kahlan came in wearing that wonderful smile of hers. Lily was combing her long dark hair. Or at least she was trying. When she saw it was Kahlan, she dropped the hairbrush and turned toward her, wearing a twin smile.  
>'Good morning, sweetie. How's it going?' Kahlan asked pointing to the hairbrush. 'Here, let me help you.' She said sitting on her bed with Lily in front of her.<p>

'Two weeks.' She thought to herself. She had learnt to know who Lily was like in just two weeks. She had seen her hesitance to be around people on the first days, she had seen how polite she was to everybody, how caring and kind, even to those she hadn't ever seen. She had learnt that Lily loved books more than anything and had been happy to get her to the Keep. Her mesmerized look had followed the endless rows of shelves, amazed by that micro-world. Kahlan smiled to herself thinking that maybe it was a kind of challenge, whether she was fit to be a mother. Unconsciously, she held her glance on her abdomen as she brushed Lily's hair. Her memories were tied to each-other like grapes.

…

He was holding her hand while she guided him through the dark halls of the Confessor's Palace. She had been asking him to go with her all day, but that was the only free moment she had been granted.  
>'Kahlan!' he murmured insistently, but all he got as a response was a squeeze. 'You're scaring me, Kahlan!'<br>She suddenly stopped and got in front of him.  
>'Open up.' she whispered. He could only see her, it was that dark, but he didn't need to see it, to know where he was.<br>It was the Garden of Roses, on the Western Wing of the Palace. It was planted all over with white roses, growing there from time immemorial. The White Roses symbolized not only the Confessors, and the Truth in general, but it was also the symbol of Aydindril. However, no white rose in Aydindril could compare to those growing there. It was magic that protected them, like it had for so many years. The fragrance emanated in the air could make even the most skeptics daydream.  
>'I have to admit, I like it.' he said embracing his hands around her waist.<br>'Richard, I have…' he didn't let her finish. He started kissing her passionately. She lost himself inside him. Suddenly, he stopped.

She broke free of his hold and turned her back at him. She had brought him there to tell him the truth and now she couldn't make herself say it. Shota's words were becoming a constant chime in her head '_A male out of your union will bear the Confessor's gift and Richard's power. You would unleash a monster into the world_.'  
>She gulped down a sob. She had been so happy that Lily was alive and so happy to have seen her face brighten in the morning at the sight of her.<br>She had felt that her baby had the right to live; she had felt the urge to go to Richard and just tell him without worrying about it. He would understand. He had to. He had said he would fight Shota.  
>'What is it?' he broke the silence.<br>'Nothing…'she responded getting control over her trembling voice. 'I just wanted to spend some time with you, that's all.' she turned facing him, feigning a smile, but unfortunately it didn't come out right. He didn't say anything, just put his arms around her waist and draw hers around his neck and he held her.  
>'I know that's not all.' he whispered in her neck sending tantalizing feelings down her spine. 'It's not been all, for some time.' he continued.<br>She nodded without being sure he would notice.  
>'What is it?' he asked.<br>She would have wanted him to tell her he loved her, and he would love her no matter what. But, then she realized she was being selfish. She knew he loved her, she knew he'd do anything for her, as she would for him. _She_ was keeping him from her, _she_ wasn't loving him no matter what.  
>'Richard, I am… I am pregnant.' she stated immediately searching for his eyes.<p>

She wanted to know what he thought, what he felt. She wanted to hear his eyes' voice before listening to his words. Somehow she was afraid they wouldn't match. But, Richard never ceased to amaze her. A smile danced on his lips and gleamed in his eyes, the smile of undying love, that kind of love that took your breath away, the kind of love that only eyes could convey, and words would never be able to fully carry. A tear rolled down her cheek. He kissed her forehead gently and he closed her eyes with his hands and kissed her eyelids, he kissed her cheeks and her nose and then he found her lips and planted a sweet short kiss on them. Then with his thumb wiped the tear away and kissed the trail it had left on her face. She didn't dare talk, or breathe for that matter.  
>'You know, Kahlan.' he said looking into her beautiful green eyes. 'I never thought you could make me happier than the moment you agreed to bind your soul with mine. And as usual, you prove me a big fool' she burst out laughing and more tears followed. He kissed her soft lips as gently as he could. Somehow he feared she would break.<p>

He kissed her till he was dizzy and then kissed her some more. He had thought there was nothing more than her that he wanted from life and she had proved him, he wanted a child with her just as much. He wanted a girl, to be like her, to have her eyes, to have her smile, a girl whose brow would wrinkle delicately as Kahlan's did when she was angry, a girl who'd be as smart and courageous and noble-hearted and as stunningly beautiful as Kahlan was. He wanted her, all of her, for all eternity.

She hugged him, embraced him, cuddled him and kissed him without ever wanting to stop. She just wanted to melt with him, she wanted to be his. And then she thought about it. She was already his, for life, she was _his_ forever, she was _his_ now and would be _his_ in eternity, she was _his_ for keeps.  
>Her heart brimmed over with happiness at the simple conviction of that.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The noise of memories**

**K**ahlan was still in the maze of her memories, while brushing Lily's long hair. She was still savoring the words Richard had told her the night before.

He tiptoed in not wanting to wake her up. He had wanted to be back early to be with her, but Zedd had come to him with some information, so he had been delayed. He slipped in bed hoping not to wake her up, when he found himself looking into her eyes.  
>'You are quite late, Lord Rahl.' she spoke in breathy tone.<br>'But I see my queen is waiting for me.' he smiled in relief. He had actually wanted to fall asleep with her image imprinted on his head. She nodded; her eyes half closed.  
>'I love you, by the way.' he sealed his promise with a kiss on her cheek. He swept his hand on her belly and he suddenly stopped. She had told him the truth frightfully; he had seen the fear in her eyes, despite her love. So, he had never tried to touch her baby of fear she would…move his hand away. He halted himself before he did that.<br>'It's OK, Richard.' she whispered. 'Touch me.'  
>'It's…Kahlan, I am sorry, maybe you need time…' she looked at him, a hint of fear dancing in her eyes. She was amazed by the fact that Richard had understood her uneasiness about the baby.<br>It wasn't lack of love, she loved that creature more than words could convey, but touching her belly, feeling her baby kick its walls and having Richard do that, would mean that baby was definitely coming, that the prophecy would have a possibility to come true and she feared that. However, now she knew the baby was coming anyway.  
>She had felt <em>her<em> move inside her for the first time that day.  
>As scared and confused as she had been, love had overcome the fear. She pulled her shirt up and she shivered for one second biting her lower lip. She grabbed Richard's hand and put it gently on her abdomen.<br>'She…'she waited a couple of seconds weighing the words. 'She…moved today.' she whispered and the baby kicked the maternal room again making Richard feel it. He gave her a smile she had never seen before; it was something new and unexplored for the both of them. And it was already wonderful…

When later, she lay in his arms, he raised a request.  
>'Kahlan, I was thinking about something.' he stated.<br>'What is it?' she asked feeling his heartbeat thump in her ears.  
>'What if we keep…what if we keep Lily with us?' he asked hesitantly. 'What do you think?'<br>'I think…'she started planting a kiss on his chest. 'I think that the world could not ask for a more noble-hearted, kind and …handsome man than you, my love.'  
>He smiled. Tucking her closer into his body, he left sleep engulf them both.<p>

As Kahlan moved the hairbrush through her hair, Lily's eyes filled with tears. She tried to blink them away without letting Kahlan notice, but it was more and more difficult to stop. She feared her power was making her feel somebody else's feelings. She tried to hold back the outburst of emotions, but it was harder than anything before. When she noticed her shoulders trembling, Kahlan dropped the hairbrush and asked gently:  
>'Sweetie, are you OK? Did I hurt you?' Lily didn't want to face her with her tearstained face.<br>Kahlan was one of the bravest people she knew, she didn't want to show weakness in front of her. She wanted to be _like _her. So, she only shook her head. Kahlan gripped her chin and tenderly turned Lily's face towards hers. Lily lifted her gaze to her face and then she burst out crying on her lap. Kahlan caressed her raven hair and let her cry as much as she wanted.  
>She felt Lily needed to tell her something so she sat on the floor with her back against the side of the bed as Lily still cried half lied on the floor with her head on her lap. Her sobs began to soften quietly and all that was left was the trembling on her shoulders. Kahlan kissed the top of her head and whispered<br>'Wanna tell me what is it?  
>Lily didn't want to move so she only turned her face up and rubbed the last tears away.<br>'I wanna know who I am.' She wailed and tears welled up again in her eyes. She sat up in front of Kahlan. 'I am sorry, I didn't mean to worry you or make you sad…I just…I am sorry.' She blinked the tears away once more and tried to stand, but Kahlan just looked at her and grabbed her hand. She tapped the place on the floor as if to invite her to sit back.  
>'Tell me everything.' Kahlan said simply.<br>'It started two months ago.' Lily started. 'I don't remember anything before then, nothing, not my name, not my home…not…not my parents.'  
>Kahlan looked at her surprised, but decided not to halt her.<br>'I woke up in a dark forest at night, wearing nothing but a thin white dress that looked too small to be mine. I was…cold and scared, but…I walked for most of the night and I reached a house. My head was hurting every time I thought about me, about my name or anything related. I don't even know what made me walk, but I guess I was on survival mode. At least that's what he called it.'  
>'Who did?' Kahlan asked as a shiver ran down her spine recalling the words Lily had been saying when she was lying on the floor that day. "They told me…" Kahlan wanted to know who 'they' was.<br>'I must have fallen asleep or fainted for that matter, in front of their house. It was a nice family, John and Erica. They had two children and there was an old man living with them. They saved my life.' Lily swallowed and then went on. 'For the first days, only sleep could keep the pain away. I was in the cusp between dream and reality, but I know one thing, I could feel. It was like feelings had voices, I didn't know their names at first, but I was able to distinguish all the shades of feelings around there. The day I finally woke up, the old man told me I had magic. He also told me that it had guided me there'  
>'How did you remember your name then?' Kahlan asked.<br>'I didn't.' Lily replied. 'There was this lake near their cottage and white lilies studded it, kinda like the Roses Garden. Since I spent most of my day there because my headache seemed better there, they called me Lily.'  
>'It's a very beautiful name.' Kahlan smiled trying to pull that poor child back from the devastating whirpool of emotions.<br>'I think so.' Lily smiled at her, but a lifetime of smiles couldn't take her haunted look away. 'Then they came…'her eyes got lost into her nightmares. She wasn't crying anymore, though.  
>Kahlan knew Lily needed to talk, so she urged her by asking who.<br>'They did.' she replied like in a trance. 'The ones that wanted my magic. I had picked some roses to give to Erica because it was her birthday. It was the only way I had to thank her. Since I didn't have anything to cut them with, I used my hands and I got bruises and cuts all over. It took me longer to get back. When I got there, all that was left was blood.' Lily's eyes brimmed with tears again.  
>Kahlan embraced her and held her head on her shoulder as Lily managed to get the story past her choking hiccups. 'They slaughtered them because of me.'<br>'No sweetie, they were just murders, it wasn't you.' Kahlan tried to convince her, but it was too much horror for a child, to deal with.  
>'They didn't just kill them.' Lily wailed. 'They…they…' she buried her face on Kahlan's chest as she rubbed her back lovingly, her own eyes watery as she remembered girls raped and murdered in Ebinissia in an alike brutal way. She would have never wanted a child to get to see that horror. She wished she could find the words to comfort Lily, she wished she could eradicate those images from her memory, and she cried at the impossibility.<p>

It took a while before Lily was able to talk again. Kahlan didn't want her to remember more, but she was resolute. As she sat down again with her head on Kahlan's lap, Lily told her the conclusion of her story.  
>'I don't know how I ended up in that inn. I only remember this young girl that dragged me there. I was…confused…I didn't know… anything. Then I overheard something about a Sister of the Dark.' she swallowed. 'They wanted my magic, and so they tried to figure it out, but using me as an entertainer. They had a magic stone that drained my magic, but they seemed to hit a wall every time they tried. Unless I used my magic, like when there were a lot of people, they could not drain it. I think that's how I survived. Till, you came.' Lily wiped her eyes clean of tears with the back of her hand and managed a smile.<br>'I owe you and Richard my life, Kahlan. Thank you.' she threw her arms around Kahlan's neck and hugged her tight.

He entered in her room when a gentle low voice told him to. He recognized Kahlan's voice in that tone. Lily was laid on her bed. Kahlan was lying on the other side of the bed looking at her with her head nestled in the heel of her hand. With her other hand, she was fondling Lily's hand. Tears scintillated in her eyes. He came on her other side and kissed her cheek.  
>'She's been through so much, Richard.' her voice came out as a wail.<br>'We're here for her.' he whispered in order not to wake Lily up. 'She's ours now, remember?'  
>She smiled at him and kissed his cheek in thanks.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Blue was the night**

**H**er eyes followed delicately the surrounding of the outer part of the castle. It was obviously well-protected, there were hidden guards everywhere. She knew that for sure, Richard had been very clear about it. She needn't worry.

However, she couldn't help shivering every time she looked around. It was as if someone was going to come from a hidden corner and catch her and take her away. She didn't want to leave. She liked it there.

'Look who's here!' Cara caught her attention. 'I wouldn't think our busy Miss Lily would bother to visit us humble guards.' she teased.  
>'Let me know when you find humble guards and I'll be there.' Lily smiled trying to forget her uneasiness.<br>'You're smart, kid.' Cara replied looking around.

Everything was calm, calmer than it usually was. It was still early spring and the sky had a dull tinge of sleepy grey which had covered the sun for days. Lily longed for those cool mornings when she dragged herself out of bed before dawn and wrapped up in a warm blanket, she read under the oak tree accompanied only by the morning sounds.

'What are you doing here, anyway?' Cara asked. 'Shouldn't you be with Richard and Kahlan?'  
>'I could ask you the same thing.' she smiled haughtily.<br>'Really?' Cara shouted followed by Lily's giggle.  
>'Com'on I am just kidding.' Lily said. 'I know you'd do anything to protect Richard and Kahlan. And to answer your question, I just wanted to leave them alone, you know…'<br>'So, that's why they sent me here, to protect their little monster.' Cara's face was illuminated by a smile for a few moments, too few to do justice to her beautiful features, but enough for Lily to realize that Cara was pleased by the request.

She waited before teasing Cara again, just to savor the word 'theirs' in her mind. She had been there only for three weeks and it already felt more homelike that any place she had ever been. That was if she remembered to even have a home at all. Her eyes got tangled in her melancholy, so she just continued walking without paying attention to Cara's attempts to cheer her up.  
>'Hey, what is it?' Cara asked trying to hide her concern. Nevertheless, her effort was useless because she had taken kindly to Lily and she worried about her a lot. And like for Richard and Kahlan, it wasn't just duty, it was an indistinct feeling that Kahlan called love, and that no matter how much she tried to repress, it always came out.<br>'Nothing, I just…have this bad feeling.' Lily replied closing her cloak around herself shivering from a sudden wind.  
>'Do you wanna go back in?' Cara asked.<p>

Lily, suddenly, looked at her with eyes that were made to stare and for one second even Cara shivered. Lily looked through her, murmuring something under her breath and left in the opposite direction. Cara took in the surroundings once more before entering the big wooden door. Maybe the girl was right. There was definitely something wrong with the day.

'Oh, com'on Richard, it's just a swim.' she said playfully untying the strings of her dress slowly, appealingly.  
>'I said no! You are not having a swim in spring, not today and sure as hell not naked.' he replied trying to stud his voice with angry nuances, but his foible attempt didn't bring any results. Kahlan was resolute she would swim in the lake even though the sun wasn't shining, and even though she was pregnant.<br>'I don't want you catching a cold sweetheart.' he decided to approach the matter gently. Surely she'd listen to him. 'That's all.'  
>'Really?' her laugh filled every fiber of her being. If he listened to it one more time, he would convince himself that it was OK to swim despite the weather. 'New persuasive strategy Lord Rahl?' she teased. 'Well…'she finally managed to remove all the ties of her dress; only her hand was keeping it on her body. 'I am still not convinced.' She planted a quick kiss on his lips and dragging her dress behind so it could only hide parts of her body leaving her shoulders and back exposed, she walked by his side trying to seduce him into submission.<br>'Kahlan!' he complained. 'You can swim some other time. You're gonna get a cold.'  
>'I do think, Lord Rahl…' she continued paying him no heed. 'That I am more persuasive than you are.' She concluded walking toward him, her eyes down until she got only a few inches away from his face.<br>He had to try very hard to be mad at her. Her skin emanated a balmy scent and he wanted nothing more than to taste it. He hadn't realized he loved her fragrance so much, until the time he started noticing it on the hallways and could tell by it that she had been there. She smiled at him again, knowing he'd agree in a few moments.  
>It wasn't the swimming part that she was most interested in now. It had turned into a game, a game she wanted to win.<br>'Please, my love, it's cold.' She knew by his tone that once her dress would touch the ground, he wouldn't object anymore. Playfully, she decided to torture him some more.  
>'Fine.' She said plainly walking away still holding her dress.<br>'Fine? Really?' he wrinkled his eyebrows, which made him seem younger. She smiled at herself. She was being sort of cruel.  
>'I said it's fine that the weather is cold.' She burst out laughing, but his disappointed face made her regret it, so she decided to end it and run in his arms forgetting about the dress. She encircled her arms around his neck giving him a well-deserved kiss. The dress was tangled in her arms and legs barely covering anything, but the fabric was the only thing that kept her body from his. He smiled at her relieved to have won that game.<br>'You're so adorable when you're angry.'  
>She kissed him again and before he knew it, he heard the splash.<br>'Can't blame you for trying, my love.' She shouted at him emerging in the deep blue of the lake.

It only took him a few seconds to go after her. She was as stubborn as a mule, but when he got into the water and felt it was warm, he laughed at himself. She had known all along, she had just wanted to play. He reached her arm and turned her to him. She was floating above the water, her lips turning bluish. Despite the hot water, the surface of her body that was on contact with the air was cold. He kissed her forehead and smiled.  
>'See, it's not so bad.' She told him, but even though she was trying hard, she had to acknowledge he has been right. How was she going to go home with her wet hair?<br>However when he felt his arm wrap up around her waist, she thought it was worth it and plunged into the water kissing him. She had always wanted to do that. The pleasure of it, made her ignore the feeling at the pit of her stomach that maybe there was more to his refusal than he wanted to share.

'Is it better now?' he asked trying to warm her up by the fire he had just made. Her regretful eyes came up to his and that was answer enough.  
>'I am sorry, Richard.' She wailed her eyes filling up with tears. She wasn't sure why she was crying. It was stupid.<br>He smiled tucking her close and got next to the fire. Fortunately he had got a warm blanket before leaving the castle. He reached for her and laid her on top of him covering her with the blanket. Before lying down, he rolled his eyes around to make sure that Ulic and the two Mord-Sith were in his line of sight. It would be extremely difficult for an untrained mind to spot them in the bushes, but he felt them through the Rahl bond. It took him some other minutes to feel Kahlan's tears moist his flesh.  
>'Hey, hey what is it?' he asked pulling her face up to look into her eyes.<br>'I don't know, I am just sorry.' she replied and he had the weird sensation he often had lately when Kahlan burst out crying without a reason, he had the feeling he had seen that angelic expression before. As he often did, he dismissed the thought 'blaming' the baby.  
>'It's OK, you know it's the baby right?' he kept her close while trying to soothe her sobs. 'It's <em>her<em> way of telling you that it was unutterably stupid to go for a swim in a time like this.' he added.  
>A small laugh burbled up and Kahlan gave him a gentle slap.<br>'I know, I know, I am sorry.'  
>'There's nothing to be sorry for, you can't really control it.' He smiled listening at the slow crackle of fire. It was mid-afternoon and despite the fact that the sun hadn't shown itself that day, twilight was capturing its colors and reflecting them on the sky; its grey was mingling with a faded orange and some shades of red that tried, but in vain, to hide the stars.<br>'I love you anyway.' he heard himself say as naturally as he took a breath. He searched her emerald eyes to see if that wiped away her tears.  
>She kissed his chest instead and moved up till she reached his lips breathing 'I love you, too' into his mouth before taking him in her kiss. <p>

Later while she still lay in his arms, her long hair covering them both, she decided to ask him.  
>'Richard?'<br>'What is it?' he asked softly kissing her head. 'You still cold?' he went on concerned.  
>'No, it's not that.' she swallowed. 'I just… wanted to ask you something.' she bit her lower lip, as she often did, in hesitation. He moved his hand through her dark hair to make her feel more comfortable.<br>'Where you serious, that night…about Lily?' she asked, but this time she didn't move. She held her breath with her head still on his chest.  
>'Of course, I was. Kahlan, of course I was. But, I don't want you thinking that I will love our child…less or something… cos I won't…I do love them, both.' She put her arms on his chest putting her head on top of them.<br>'I know.' she said simply. 'I just…sometimes Lily reminds me so much of you, it just seemed natural for me too.'  
>'That's funny.' he smiled. 'I always think she's so much like you that I would swear she was your sister.' Kahlan returned the smile. 'Haven't you noticed her eyes?'<br>'Notice what?' she asked.  
>'Her eyes, they're your exact double. I didn't even think that was possible.' He replied.<br>'Well, I don't think so, she is so much like you that I don't think about me, I guess.' She smiled. She was liking this conversation.  
>'You know, my love,' he continued. 'I think we will be still discussing this kinda stuff some time from now.' he added with a smile dancing in his eyes.<br>'Or… we might be doing other stuff.' She replied playfully.  
>She planted her hands on the ground and standing above him trying to keep the weight of her body on her hands, she kissed him passionately making him understand that maybe it was time to finish that picnic and return home.<br>'We do have a bed, baby, a big, comfortable one.' he smiled between her kisses.  
>'You mean the one I am trying to get you back to?' she laughed.<br>'OK, OK, got it.' he replied pulling himself up and helping her up too. He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders after putting a kiss on them and he started collecting their things. Since it wasn't advisable for Kahlan to ride on a horse, they had used the carriage.  
>'I'll just grab my cloak. I left it by the lake.' Kahlan told him.<br>'Just hurry, baby. It's getting dark.' he called out for her from the carriage.

She ran towards the lake and grabbed her white cloak in her arm. Then the world turned black…

-

'You have to stay here, Lily, please.' Cara begged her. 'I will come back for you.'  
>'Please…' Lily cried. 'Please let me help, they're gonna kill you.'<br>'Lily, I swore to Richard that I would protect you as if it was him or Kahlan and when I say you stay here, you stay here.' she shouted. When he noticed Lily's scared look, she made her voice docile 'I am gonna protect you till my last breath, OK? But I have to go. They will invade the castle if I don't help.' Lily nodded and dragged her knees up as a shield. Cara looked at her hiding place again before closing the door.  
>Screams and wails cut the air. The mud, the blood and the tears were mingling dangerously on Lily's face. Her arms hurt from where the soldiers had grabbed her and the oozing pain in her leg was becoming unbearable. However, she knew she couldn't move.<br>Despite her hope in the army and her faith in Cara, deep inside she knew the effort was futile. Imperial Order men were not there to invade Aydindril, they were there just to cause death; and it was all her fault. Her sobs threatened to take the wind left in her lungs.  
>She wished selfishly that she had gone with Richard and Kahlan. Only a few seconds passed, between the formation of the wish and the blazing pain in her head, she seemed to remember something, she tried to cling at the memory and then everything turned black….<p>

It took her a few seconds to realize where she was hurting. She was lying on the ground feeling helpless and paralyzed with an agonizing pain coming from her abdomen. She felt something warm between her legs. Through the rays of the bright moon, she saw the ruby-red blood glistening. Pain mixed with terror and fear. Her wails drew Richard to her. She didn't dare move and she cried at the realization of what was happening.  
>'It can't be happening, no dear spirits no.' she cried calling out Richard's name. When he saw her like that on the ground, he rushed toward her.<br>'Richard, the baby, please… do something.' She wailed bending over because of the pain that came in intervals. He tried to help her up and noticed blood on her hands. It was dark and he hadn't noticed the blood-red color that painted her white cloak. He gulped down a sob and tried to think of something he could do.  
>Her screams pierced at his heart. His eyes filled with tears at the sight of the thing he loved most suffer. She was trying to tell him something, but the pain was too stubborn to let her. He called one of the Mord-Sith and sent her to get a healer.<br>'Richard please…I can't lose this baby…our baby…please spirits…' he embraced her shoulders not knowing what to say to comfort her, not knowing what to do to make her feel better, not knowing how to deal with that terror. He tried to suppress his own cry that screamed from his throat.  
>'It's OK sweetheart, the healer is gonna be here any minute. Just hold on OK? He's gonna be here now…<p>

But, Kahlan couldn't wait.  
>Nor could the baby.<br>He couldn't just sit there and wait for his child to die. He knew he couldn't move her. What if the healer didn't get there in time? He had to find Zedd. His magic would heal her and hopefully the baby, too.

Kahlan's hand was wrapped around her belly trying to somehow soothe the pain. She was watching her world, her hopes, her dreams, her expectations crumble and it was associated with such an excruciating pain that she was surprised she was still breathing. Her breath was coming in pants. Richard suddenly got up and kissed her goodbye.  
>'I will find Zedd.' he said hurrily. 'I swear to you, my love, I will find him and I'll do whatever I can to keep <em>her<em> with us.'

She suppressed the scream that the pain pushed into her throat to take time to tell him she loved him, but she couldn't. Tears of frustration followed. Richard called the other bodyguards and one of the Mord-Sith to stay by Kahlan and he got on the fastest horse in road to Aydindril followed by Kahlan's mental 'I love you' that she wasn't able to utter…

-

'Please, stop, please, stop.' she was begging under her breath. Tears stung her eyes, the hand that was circling her abdomen did nothing to stop the pain, and she couldn't move or scream. In the calm spot in her mind, she figured that even if she did, it wouldn't matter. The screams of battle were raging just outside the door. Lily knew what this pain meant and she cried even more for her uselessness.  
>She knew Kahlan was in danger, and now she knew her baby was too.<br>Trying to stand was hard. Her feet felt heavy as stone in water and she felt like she was drowning; she was struggling to catch her breath. She walked a few steps to the door and opened it.  
>Kahlan's child needed her magic, she couldn't, she wouldn't let her down.<p>

-

She found herself talking to the creature inside her womb. She was lulling _her_ to sleep, trying to calm her down, and saying it was going to be OK, that her Daddy would be there soon.  
>The pain was less severe and fortunately there was no more blood except the one already coagulated. However, she hadn't dared to move an inch from where Richard had left her. Sometimes, the pain became so unbearable that she was surprised she hadn't fainted, so she tried to find a calm place in her mind.<br>She was in the cusp between dream and reality, between the terror of life and sleep of death, and the most agonizing of all was that she never wanted to pass that limbo if that meant she would have to leave her baby behind. Tears hadn't stopped coming out of her eyes. She felt as if they were pulling her into the void. She struggled to keep her eyes open, trying as she might, to cling to the memory of the 'I love you' kiss she had given Richard as a token of his fatherly love. Her last thoughts were too undefined to be coherent.

-

'Let her go!' Zedd ordered the soldier that was trying to drag Lily out. Her screams had drawn him to her. He was glad they had. The soldier refused to move and he found himself turned to ash with Wizard's Fire in mere seconds.  
>Lily ran towards Zedd trembling. Her legs failed the task of keeping her up and she fell in his arms crying her eyes out. Zedd held her in his arms and tried to move away, but she stopped him forcefully.<br>'Zedd, Kahlan…. she is…Zedd' he noticed she was losing blood from her arm. Thoughts were difficult for her to form.  
>'Lily, what's wrong with Kahlan? Lily!' she fainted in his arms murmuring words he couldn't understand.<p>

It took Zedd more minutes that he could count to heal Lily's arm and get her out of the sight of the battle at least for a while. He suspected Kahlan was in danger and he was sure that Lily not feeling well was partially because of that.

She opened her emerald eyes and looked at him worried and confused. Nevertheless, she dismissed it all and rushed to form sentences.  
>'Zedd, Kahlan is hurt. She…needs me.' she was thirsty, very thirsty. She tried to stand. 'I have to break the bond.'<br>'Bond? What bond?' he asked confused.  
>'The one between me and her baby. Only then will I be able to heal the child.'<br>He wanted to ask her how she knew about Kahlan, but a more immediate question came forth 'Heal? What do you mean heal? You …  
>'Please Zedd is there a way that you could get me there? I have to save her baby…and her too.' she wailed ignoring Zedd's interrogative look and all the other questions that resided in her head.<br>'I can do that. But… I can't take us both there. You would have to go alone ….and if Kahlan is really hurt…I can't repeat the spell twice in a row…  
>Lily understood what he meant.<br>'Please Zedd, I am begging you to send me to her, please…' tears rushed down her already wet face. 'I can help her, please…'

Even though reason screamed for him to hide Lily and travel with magic himself, his instinct, something magical inside him, told him to trust the child standing before him. Maybe she was the only hope. He cast the spell as soon as he could.

All Lily could remember after that was the blue-night color of the magic coming from her own hands.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Lost and found**

It was the smell that made her wake up, the smell of a dungeon. Then the pain took over, and after that the sounds, some scary ones. All of this happened before she even opened her eyes. She wished she hadn't from the very first moment. It meant it was real even though she didn't exactly know what 'it' was.

Her green eyes looked at the filthy prison she was in. One of her hands was cuffed to the bars. There was another prison next to hers; its door was open. There was hardly enough space to stretch her legs. Flashes of memories came to her in intervals. She tried to move, but then she remembered about her baby. She didn't know what had happened, she didn't know if her baby was alive, she didn't know where she was and she couldn't even move. Tears stung her eyes. But, she didn't feel any pain anymore.

She didn't know how much time passed. It seemed hours, but maybe it was just minutes. She lied there still, looking at the black low ceiling. She tried to find a meaning behind the sounds, the distant screams, and the fact that she didn't feel any pain. She couldn't tell if her baby was alive, but the thing that made her very angry, was the fact that she wasn't crying. She couldn't. She should, but she couldn't.  
>'Maybe not knowing is better.' she thought to herself. 'Maybe <em>she<em>'s fine, maybe it was all just a dream, well…a nightmare.'

She rolled the words in her head trying to convince herself of that supposed truth, but she was a Confessor, she knew better. Something wasn't real just because you wished it to be, no matter how much you wished for that. A voice inside her head told her she should try to escape, but her muscles didn't want to move, she was afraid it would hurt too much, just the mere memory of what had been happening to her body hurt, she didn't want that to happen again.

She had no idea how much time passed; there was no window, so she didn't know whether it was day or night, sunny or raining, whether it was real or just a dream. And staying closed in can make one thing the most impossible things.  
>'What if none of it was real, what if I am not real, what if Richard isn't real?' The thought brought more pain than the cramps had before. Tears started to come out of her eyes. 'He can't be a dream, he has to be real.' She started hitting the bars and tried to get up causing some noise that echoed in the pit. She screamed for help, but there was nobody there. 'Where am I?' screamed in her mind.<p>

-

'You'd better do that. You know the consequences.' The Wizard screamed at her. She turned her puffy eyes and bruised face toward him. Her eyes were expressionless, they gave her the creeps. She stared at him for a couple of seconds hating him with every fiber of her being and then straightened her hands before her. Flashes of blue light came from her hands filling up the little bottles with a liquid of an a rainbow color.  
>'Very good, Lily, see? Your magic <em>can<em> be drained.' But it didn't last more than a few seconds, draining her powers from herself took her energies.

She was actually stalling and making it look longer, but she had to think of something to save Kahlan. As she often had for every minute of every hour of the three days they had been there, she blamed herself and tears of frustration stung her eyes.  
>Knowing stuff was a good thing, but not knowing them was better. <p>

_Three days earlier…_

Lily understood what he meant: 'Please Zedd, I am begging you to send _me_ to her, please…' tears rushed down her already wet face. 'I can help her, please…'

He cast the spell as soon as he could. In the blink of an eye, she found herself in a forest. It was very dark, but fortunately the full moon looked upon her apprehensively. There was silence around, but she walked in the dark guided only by instinct. She left the forest and then she saw her. It was Kahlan. She was lying by the side of the lake, covered in something that looked like a blanket. She rushed toward her. She was barely conscious.  
>'Kahlan, please wake up. Kahlan! I am here to help.' She tried, but Kahlan's strength had been drained from her. The pain had made her faint.<p>

Alana, the Mord-Sith was trying to calm her down. They had lighted a fire. By the light of it and to her own terror, Lily noticed the blood Kahlan had lost. She feared she was too late. She sent the Mord-Sith to get some more wood. Meanwhile she straightened Kahlan's frail body and put her hands over her abdomen.  
>'Please work!' she begged under her breath. Flashes of blue light started coming from her hands, she knew how to do it, she wasn't sure how she knew that, and why she had remembered only now that she had the power to heal.<br>However, the sensation of magic didn't come. Panic swept through her. She tried again and again, but it didn't work. She retried, but no magic worked. She closed her eyes like she did when she called empathy forth, but she couldn't feel anything.  
>'Oh spirits, this can't be happening. Please Creator, make me heal her.' She thought to herself. Crying, she tried to wake Kahlan up; she did open her eyes for a few moments, but her gaze couldn't fix and she lost her senses again. Confusion and anger took the best of Lily, who started wandering around trying to think of a way to save them.<br>'Kahlan, please…you can't die. Kahlan, please wake up. I am sorry, I am sorry.' Her tears fell over Kahlan's face. 'I should have let Zedd come, I was overconfident, I am sorry…You can't just die…'

She tried for minutes and then she put her ear over Kahlan's heart and was relieved to hear it beating. In that moment it dawned on her.

Zedd had used his magic to heal her arm; she wasn't healed yet, so she couldn't use her powers yet. She cried and bit her lower lip with frustration so hard that it started bleeding. She decided to try her magic again. But, a sudden force grabbed her by her throat and made her get up. She found herself looking in the dark-brown eyes of a tall man. He wasn't actually touching her, but she noticed magic in his eyes. She knew him.  
>'Well, well, look who's here again.' His voice terrorized her. She unconsciously closed her eyes, but he grabbed her by the throat and made her look at him. 'You think your daydreaming will save you from me, well, I am sorry to inform you that it won't. Look at me!'<br>'Please…let me…' he grabbed her tighter until she couldn't make any sounds, she felt the air leave her lungs and her vision getting blurry.  
>No magic to protect her, no one around, she tried to think of the Mord-Sith and Ulic, but her need for air made the matters more complicated. Just when she was about to lose her senses he dropped her to the ground where she hit her head. After some dizzy moments, she was able to spot half the dozen men that accompanied him. She had no escape. Through the light of the fire, she noticed Kahlan. She was half sure there was nothing she could do anymore for her baby, but she had to save Kahlan. She had to be strong.<br>'What do you want from me?' she shouted but her voice was too hoarse to be strong.  
>'Same as before, babe. Your magic.' He replied grabbing her hair in his fist with one hand and touching her breasts with the other.<br>'Well…'Lily shouted 'I am sorry, but my magic doesn't work right now.' As his hand moved through her body, her panic started clouding her judgment.  
>'What do you mean?' he shouted in her ear his hand moving down.<br>'I was healed by magic and I can't use mine yet.' She tried to move his hand away, but at every attempt he pulled her hair so much that she couldn't believe it was still on her head.  
>'So that's why you can't save this one here.' He continued eyeing Kahlan. Lily gulped down a sob and swallowed. She cried at what she had to do.<br>'But it will come back and this time I will offer it willingly.' Lily said preventing her voice from trembling.

She knew that offering her magic willingly to somebody else would drain her of her life and eventually kill her. The wizard behind her, Roger, had tried to make her surrender her magic, but her magic was too strong. So he had kept her in the inn, draining her magic daily with a magic stone called a quillion.  
>'Oh really! And I am supposed to believe that? How do I know you won't make me disappear with your Subtractive Magic when I let you go?' he asked removing his hand from her body. A brief relief swept through her.<br>'Because I would do anything to save her life. You have Additive Magic, you can heal her. Do that and I will surrender my magic.' She stated.

He let her hair go and ordered his man to stand down. Then he turned his back to her and thought it over.

Only a couple of seconds later, two guards grabbed each of Lily's arms and dragged her away.  
>'Roger, please, save her…' she screamed. 'Let me go! Let go off me!' she shouted at the guards, but they didn't even flinch. She saw Roger get near Kahlan and felt guilty once more for not having let Zedd come. If she had, at least Kahlan would be alive. 'Please just heal her and you can have me then. Please I am begging you.'<br>He grabbed a knife and put it under Kahlan's throat saying: 'Or I could just kill her and make you see it. Then touching Kahlan's breasts lust gleaming in his eyes, he added 'Or maybe I could change my mind, and do more…'  
>'Let her go, don't you see she's dying? Please…' she screamed for him to listen shaking her body violently that the guards found it difficult to keep her calm, but they still didn't let her go.<br>Roger glared at her and got up. With his strong boot, he gave Kahlan's body a kick. Lily scream cut through the very fabric of the air.  
>'Noooo…Let her go…' Kahlan opened her eyes briefly and felt confused. Memories of pain flashed through her mind, it mixed with some screams. She moaned, but didn't realize what was happening.<br>'Please let her be. You can take me, just…don't touch her.' Lily begged on her knees.  
>'See, I knew you'd be more complaint. But you know what, I think I'll do what you ask.' In the nick of a second, he used some orange magic that hit Kahlan.<p>

Thinking he had killed her was more than enough for Lily. She broke free of the hold. Magic screamed through her cells, anger radiating from her body. She redirected her magic toward him and arrowed him away. There was an impact in the air, thunder with no sound. Anyone who knew would understand. Roger's magic shields didn't keep her away. Her power was awake.

Her mind, heart and soul screamed for revenge. In less than a minute, she had hit everybody with her flashes of blue magic. All the guards fell paralyzed on the ground. Then she eyed Roger calmly. Her stare scared the hell out of him. Before saying anything, she kneed him in the groin and while he was bent over from pain she threw magic through his eyes killing him. Tissue and bold exploding from his body covered her blue dress.

Then her body went crazy. The blazing pain started. _She had killed a man, she had caused someone's death._ She bent over covering her head and screaming some unearthly screams.

Despite the pain, she dragged herself to Kahlan's body and tried to feel her pulse. She felt in seventh heaven when she felt the weak heartbeat shout for life. She put her hands on Kahlan's heart and blew magic to her soul. The flash of that blue light was the last thing she remembered.

_It was like being born again, a sensation she had had before, but this time it was like every cell in her body was drinking in some weird magic. She saw herself in a white place and the blue magic covered her as a dress, or a foulard that caressed her skin. She realized she was still there, still alive._

After seeing the girl's body drop over the Mother Confessor, he got out of the bushes followed by a woman. General Adrian was pleased by the results. Everything had happened as Emperor Jagang had predicted. Followed by Sister Amaryllis he made his way to the girl's body. It would take the Mother Confessor only a few moments to wake up. He knew the girl had saved her and her child as well. He smiled at himself.  
>'So, General, are you convinced now?' Sister Amaryllis teased standing over the bodies. 'I told you; the prophecy is clear.' And she cited it:<p>

'_As long as the one coming from another time, wields the power of blue, the one in white and the one bonded to the blade will always fight. The One of the South will never steal her heart's desire.' _

'Do you really think she's the one we're looking for?' the General asked again. 'She's nothing more than a child.' He ordered his men to grab her body and put it in the carriage; the Emperor waited. 'A pretty one though.' He licked his lips thinking of how the Emperor would award his success.  
>'Don't even think about it, General. She's property of the Emperor.' The men came back for the Mother Confessor and she cast her spell to keep her asleep. 'You saw what happened to these men.' She added glaring at the general disgusted by the lust in his eyes. 'She might be a child, but she'd deadlier than a viper.'<br>'But you told me she was supposed to confess them. Why did she kill them?' he replied without even looking at them, but savoring the Sister's body once more. He knew the orders, this Sister was special, but he knew that sooner or later he would have her, no matter what. She put her hand on his chest in warning threatening to release her power on him.  
>'Look at me like that just once more and you will wish to be in Roger's shoes.' She squirmed. He eyed Roger's body, or what was left of it and swallowed.<br>How could a child cause that kind of death was entirely beyond him.

While the carriage made its way through the forest, Sister Amaryllis reviewed her plan. The girl's powers had been awoken by love. She had managed to fuse her three powers in one and had managed to save the life of the person she loved most. For one moment Sister Amaryllis, wished she had the same opportunity.

-

Time is a tricky thing when you are closed in a place. You try to cling to the conventional form, but you soon learn you can't keep that up if you want to remain sane. So you try other ways to measure it.  
>'There has to be a source of water, here.' Kahlan thought to herself for the thousandth time. She had learnt to tell day by night by the distinct sound the water made when dropping somewhere near there. It seemed forever. She had tried everything, but nothing seemed to work.<p>

The questions were killing her, the tears were choking what was left of that and the creepy sounds of screams were scaring the remains of her soul.

Suddenly her long train of memories was interrupted by the sound of an opening door. She heard steps, heavy ones, that echoed in the stone pavement and in the walls. The prison next to hers was still empty. She couldn't see anything, but the body of a person being dropped in. The guard left a torchlight in the entrance and then left.

At first, it was hard for Kahlan to keep her eyes away of the other prisoner. She couldn't see him; all she could see was the shadow. Fearing it could be a dangerous person, she tried to leave it alone. But she only tried and never managed to stop wondering who was there. 

'_Kahlan!' he had to whisper her name twice for his voice to get past the thick blanket of dreams. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, sitting up in bed. He gave her a quick morning kiss and pulling away the blanket made her stand up.  
>'Richard, what are you doing?' she tried to look at him, but it was still dark. 'It's not even dawn yet.' She lowered her eyes imitating a spoiled child and then closed her eyes again. Feigning sleep, she hugged him and put her head on his chest.<br>'I know I just wanted to tell you that you lost it…' he said.  
>'What?' sleep was taking the best of her. 'What was it that I lost? I have you, nothing else matters.'<br>'Oh really, what about our baby?' she looked at him terrified. He stared at her blankly and pushed her away from him.  
>She started sobbing. 'Please, Richard, forgive me, I am sorry…Please…' tears followed one another, she couldn't stop saying she was sorry and he didn't stop looking at her with…<em>

She snapped her eyes open and sat up. It had been terrifying, Richard looking at her like that. She felt tears moist her face. Yes, it had been terrifying, but at least she had seen him. She longed for him so much. She would give up her life twice over just to hear his voice again. Then she realized why she had dreamt about crying. There was somebody crying in the prison next to hers. And the person was murmuring 'I am sorry'. Kahlan guessed that the sounds had entangled with her dream, she hadn't been fully awake, but floating between dream and reality.

She approached the bars of the pit and decided to make a step.  
>'Hey, who's there?' she asked. She hadn't talked in a long while, so her voice seemed faded, but she managed to get heard. The sobbing stopped.<p>

It was all her fault, all the situation was her fault. She almost wished she had given up her magic willingly since the very first time Roger had kidnapped her. Had she done that, Kahlan wouldn't be rotting in some prison right now, and Richard wouldn't be going nuts over her absence and the men of the Order wouldn't have come to look for her in the Confessor's Palace in Aydindril and …she would be dead.  
>She realized that fear of death, or of the unknown made one do the most improbable things. She had lost all sense of time and place, and all her energies with it. She hadn't found a way to free Kahlan, but a thought did make her survive. Richard would come after her, he would go to the end of the world for Kahlan, and for his baby as well. Even though Lily couldn't help uttering 'I am sorry' that was one good thing she had managed to do.<p>

Some when between her sobs, she heard a voice nearby. She was still lying on her stomach on the floor where the guards had dropped her. She was too weary to move. In that moment, she thought that maybe she had drained too much magic already and that her end was near. She didn't dare hope for one moment, but then she gave in to the hope that the voice calling was her mom's.  
>'Mom…is that you?' she asked tearfully. 'Mom…if you…if you ever existed, now it would be a good time to show that.' She said more to herself and to a deaf surrounding. Then through the light of the torch she noticed a hand, coming from a slender arm. That was all she could see, that was all the light permitted her, and maybe all she needed to feel a little calmer.<p>

Kahlan knew by the crying that it had to be a girl. Maybe she was there for a reason, but she doubted that. She called out again and there was no sound for a couple of seconds. She clutched one of the bars and tried to see beyond. She noticed the hem of a dress. Squinting, she managed to distinguish the color, light-blue. And then her breath caught in her throat, it was the same shade of blue Lily's dress held, it was the same shade of blue of her wedding dress, that was why she had picked it.  
>'It can't be.' She thought to herself trying hard to go past the lump in her throat. 'She was at the castle, she can't be here. Richard wouldn't have let them take her.' She heard the sobbing again, but she couldn't make out the words the girl was murmuring.<p>

It couldn't be Lily, it just couldn't be, she couldn't be losing another person she loved.  
>'Lily? Is that you?' the name echoed frightfully in the pit.<p>

When she heard her name being called, she was sure that she was going to die. She longed to know her mother, she yearned for her memory, she knew it had to be somewhere in her head, it just had to. She decided to go to that hand and grab it, but she took a moment to think about Richard and Kahlan, about how much she cared about them and how grateful she was to them and how much she cared about Zedd and Cara too and how much she would have wanted to see Richard and Kahlan's baby around.

'I have faith in you, Richard.' She said to herself as if taking a mental note. 'I am sorry, Kahlan, I am. I just…can't take it anymore.' She stood up and grabbed the hand after the bars.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8-So lie to me, and tell me that it's gonna be OK**

'**I** had left her to you, I had trusted you with her, how could you just leave her alone?' he shouted fuming. This couldn't be happening; Kahlan and Lily had just vanished as if the earth had swallowed them. He was going crazy. He hadn't slept in days and anxiety kept rising with every moment.  
>How could she have done that? How could Cara be so reckless? He had sworn he would protect Kahlan and he hadn't; she had sworn she would protect Lily with her life if needed be, and she hadn't.<br>'I am sorry, Master Rahl.' Cara said, her eyes down, Agiel in her hand, ready for punishment. 'It's all true. You should punish me.'

Richard stared at her blankly and then he threw the table in the air and grabbed by the throat. Zedd decided not to intervene for the moment.  
>'You know what Cara, I won't punish you, I will let you walk away and you know why?' she hadn't even flinched, she hadn't moved her eyes, she had surrendered her body to Master Rahl. 'Cos you can punish yourself enough for the rest of your days if anything happens to Lily or… Kahlan.' then he suddenly stopped.<p>

He realized he was wrong. He let go of her throat and moved away. Cara didn't object or say anything. She raised her eyes for a second to look at Richard, but he was already gone. Zedd got next to her asking if she was OK.  
>'No, I am not.' she said. 'He should've killed me.' her sky-blue eyes stared at him, a red circle of tears trying to make its way out. 'It would've hurt less.' And she walked away.<p>

'Mom? You finally came.' Lily was convinced that it was her mother's angel whose hand she was touching. It hurt, her being an angel, it meant she was dead, it hurt for her to be touching an angel, it meant she was dead as well, but when she heard Kahlan's voice she feared Kahlan might be dead as well.'  
>'Lily! Oh dear spirits, is that you? Are you OK?' Kahlan's concern magnified with every second that Lily's answer delayed. She squeezed her hand.<br>'Mom, Kahlan can't be dead, she…just can't be.' Lily cried by the other side.  
>'I am alive, Lily, I am here with you. Please listen to me! What's going on with you?' Lily didn't take her hand away, but she was talking to herself and she wasn't listening to her words. She had to make her react.<br>'I want my mom, I just want you, mom.' Lily cried on the other side. The darkness, the lack of energy, no food for days. She was exhausted, she couldn't keep it up. 'Mom, please just take me home.' She begged and squeezed Kahlan's hand.

She thought about it, but it only took one second to convince herself: 'Yeah, baby, I am your mom. I am here for you, OK? Just lie down OK?' Lily obeyed and then clutched her hand again. Kahlan couldn't see her and was sure Lily couldn't either. Kahlan's other hand was still cuffed to the bar, but she tried her best and was able to keep her other hand in Lily's. 'That's good baby girl. Now you try and sleep. I will get you out of here, I promise OK?'  
>Lily murmured an OK before falling asleep. She didn't let go of Kahlan's hand. After a couple of seconds, she said softly : 'Kahlan was right, mom. She said I would find you.'<p>

Kahlan gulped down a sob and suppressed the scream that came to her lips and only squeezed Lily's hand instead.

Wizard Corsar was making his way back to his quarters. It was almost over, soon he would have the girl's powers. Emperor Jagang would be very happy to have the most powerful magic ever been conceived bottled and ready for use. Even though he had been a wizard for a very long time, it had seemed impossible to him that a person could drain magic from himself and turn it into liquor without finishing it all in one try. That had been the Emperor's idea. When being in Sister Amaryllis's mind, he had found out an ancient spell that could make a person do that and he had planned out how he would make sure that the girl he was looking for was the one living with the Seeker and the Mother Confessor.

The prophecies stated clearly that the girl would have both the Confessor's power and wizard's magic and tempering them both she would have the ancient power of empathy. Wizard Corsar smiled at himself while opening the door, it would be over soon, the girl would be gone very soon.

He couldn't believe he was there alone, that he had lost the most important people in his life and that there was no way he could even try to look for them. He was sitting in the bench under Lily's favorite oak tree. There had to be a way to get them back, there had to be one.

'You know, son, I think you were pretty harsh on Cara.' Zedd said sitting next to him.  
>'I know.' Richard admitted. 'I wasn't actually punishing her, I was just …'<br>'…Punishing yourself?' Zedd's question didn't need an answer. 'You know my boy, it wasn't just your fault, we all did our best. You had to leave Kahlan for the same reason Cara had to hide Lily and for the same reason I had to let her go, to save them both.'  
>'But, if I hadn't left her alone in the middle of the forest at night, at least… I could have protected her from…them.' Richard replied meekly, voicing his guilt for the first time.<br>'Protected her from what? From death? Cos that's what would have happened, the baby would have killed her.' Zedd said.  
>'If only my magic had worked…' Richard murmured and only then did Zedd realize the real problem.<p>

Wizards were trained in the Palace of the Prophets or by another wizard and Richard, despite being the most powerful wizard born in thousands of years, hadn't got the education needed to use his gift. He could only use it in time of great need. 'I just don't get it, Zedd,' he continued. 'Why didn't it work this time; if there was a time of greater need, it was that one.'  
>'I can't answer that my boy, but I can tell you something…' he couldn't finish his sentence because a flash of light caught both their attentions.<br>'I can answer that question, Richard.' said Shota, the witch woman, coming out of the light as a phantom. Richard stood up, his hand on the hilt of the sword.  
>'What are you doing here, Shota?' Zedd asked angrily.<br>'I am here to help, of course.' She smiled seductively, her auburn hair floating in the wind.  
>'We don't need your help.' Richard put in. 'You've already caused a lot of trouble.'<br>'Listen to me, Richard.' She said getting near him, her tone serious. 'If you wanna see that wife of yours and the child she is carrying again, you _will_ need my help.'  
>'How can I even trust you?' Richard shouted, the anger of the Sword gleaming in his eyes. 'You swore to kill our child.'<br>'No, no, Richard. I didn't swear to kill any child, I swore to kill your male son.' She smiled. 'Not your daughter.'  
>'What are you talking about?' Zedd asked. 'You've never mistaken a prophecy, Shota.' his tone was ironic.<br>'I didn't say I made a mistake, I just said that this child Kahlan is carrying will be a girl, because the entanglement of your two magic created something I could not predict.'  
>'What do you mean?' Richard asked. On one hand he was happy to know the child would be a girl, but on the other hand, he didn't even know if the child was alive. That thought stabbed his heart.<br>'Your child will have Kahlan's Confessor power to bend everyone to her will, and she will have your wizard's powers, the gift from both sides of magic, Additive and Subtractive Magic. She will be the most powerful person that has ever lived and all this power would corrupt her soul and she would become the worst tyrant ever lived. However…'she paused for a minute and then went on. 'However she will be granted the power of empathy that will temper both her powers and allow her to use them justly.' Shota concluded. A train of questions journeyed in Richard's mind. A doubt was forming. 'But, the thing you also don't know,' Shota went on ' is that you've already met your little girl- to –be.' She smiled at him meaningfully.  
>'What are you talking about?' Richard asked. '<em>She<em>…has not been born yet.' he added confused.  
>'Nevertheless, you have met her, known her, and loved her. Doesn't that remind you of something, Seeker?' she asked. He started at her in astonishment. How could it be?<br>'Yes, Richard, Lily _is _your daughter. Lily _is_ the daughter of the Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor.'

'Kahlan?' her gentle voice bore all the strength that sleep had presented her body and mind with. Her train of memories was kind of clogged, she couldn't really remember what had happened, but she has seen a hand in hers when she had woken up and had realized it was Kahlan's. It was very dark, but her eyes had got used to it and could make out the shadows.  
>Kahlan woke up and blinked a few times so her eyes would get used to the dark. She felt happier than she had ever been ever since being locked down at hearing Lily call her by her name.<br>'Yes, it's me.' She replied.  
>'Are you OK? Lily asked. She was sitting next to the bars trying to make out Kahlan's features in the dark.<br>'Yeah…I think so.' She replied leaving out the part of the uncertainty about her baby. But, as usual Lily realized there was something wrong.  
>'<em>She<em>'s OK, Kahlan.' she murmured. Kahlan didn't breathe for one second. It was just like hope was sweeping back in her heart again. However she had to ask: 'How do you know that, sweetheart?'  
>'I can feel it.' Lily replied and for one second Kahlan forgot they were locked in a dark damp pit with no way out. Lily jumped next to her and got her hand through the bars and gently caressed her belly. Flashes of warm blue light came out from her hands. 'Close your eyes.' Lily said.<p>

Kahlan did as told and suddenly she felt something in her ears. Fear made it indistinguishable at first, but her heart solved the riddle. It was a heartbeat, a strong heartbeat that thumped in her ears in unison with her own. Pure joy spread throughout her cells like a regenerating force. She wasn't sure if it was the happiness of knowing her baby was alive, or Lily's magic, but she didn't really care.  
>'Thank you, sweetie, for showing me this.' She said trying not to cry, but she couldn't help it. She got her hand past the bars to caress Lily's face. She managed to do that, but she felt bruises and a swollen lip with her fingertips. The feeling of peace dissipated as quickly as it had started. 'Lily, are you OK?' she asked concerned.<br>'Now, I am fine.' She replied. She was happy to have made Kahlan happy, even though it was short-lived.  
>Kahlan kept fondling her cheeks and then grabbed her hand. Lily lied down on one side of the bars and Kahlan on the other. After a couple of minutes, Kahlan asked Lily how she knew about the baby.<br>'I…am not really sure.' Lily replied sincerely. 'I had a doubt for some time and then…that night… I knew for sure. Maybe it's my empathy.' she concluded.  
>'Exactly how long ago was it?' Kahlan asked. 'Do you know?'<br>'It's been four days.' Lily replied surely.  
>'We're gonna get out of here. I promise.' Kahlan lied. Lily squeezed her hand wanting to believe in what she knew was probably a lie.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

**I know this one is pretty long, but I hope you like it anyway. Remember reviews are appreciated, I can accept even one word reviews. They let me know whether you like it or not! So let me know!**

**Chapter 9-Black and White Angel**

'Sister Amaryllis, what a pleasure to have you here.' Wizard Carson feigned when his gaze settled on the slender body of the sister in front of him.  
>'I would say the pleasure is all mine, if it weren't a lie.' she replied haughtily carefully surveying the surroundings. 'I need to see the child.' she put in.<br>'I am afraid that's not possible.' the Wizard replied. 'She's nearly done in giving me her power; I've let her rest for today.  
>Sister Amaryllis raised her hand and with that, all the bottles were raised up, floating in the air. 'I said I need to see the child.' she repeated.<br>Wizard Corsar nodded. He hadn't been informed of her arrival. There was definitely something wrong.

-  
>'Do you listen to yourself Shota? Do you know how old Lily is? She can't be Kahlan's daughter…our daughter.' Richard replied turning his back to hers. No matter how much he tried to think of a kind of magic that would make that possible, that would make the concept less strange and imperceptible and… make it true, but he couldn't find it.<br>'Oh, Richard, I know far too well, but I also know she is your daughter, and Kahlan's daughter and I know that she _is_ very powerful.' she replied, but this time her tone wasn't playful anymore, she was apologetic and she sounded worried.  
>'Can you just explain that?' Richard shouted angrily.<br>'Maybe I can.' Zedd interrupted. 'Maybe _I_ can.'  
>Richard stared at him blankly. 'What do you mean?'<br>'Remember, at first, when you thought you couldn't be with Kahlan because her magic would enslave you?' Zedd asked. Richard managed a nod not wanting to remember something that would increase his heartache even more. 'But you did find a way to be together, because your love was too strong and you were willing to sacrifice yourself just to be hers. Well I think it was your love that generated empathy, in your child.'  
>'Let's suppose you're right,' Richard said. ' And…our child…will have empathy, just like Lily, how is that supposed to explain that Lily is <em>my<em> child.'

The sound of those words from Shota had had an effect on him, but saying them himself sounded totally different. And it was only then that he remembered the first time he had looked into Lily's eyes and the feeling he had got, that her eyes were exactly like Kahlan's. His heart believed Shota, but his head refused to.  
>'That doesn't explain it, but the prophecy does.' Zedd said citing the prophecy:<p>

'_As long as the one coming from another time, wields the power of blue, the one in white and the one bonded to the bladewill always fight. The One of the South will never steal her heart's desire.' _

'You lost me.' Richard declared. ' I recognize the prophecy talks about me and Kahlan, but what does that have to do with Lily being here?'  
>'Lily is 'the one coming from another time'' Shota said. 'Lily, the girl you know today comes from the future. She <em>is<em> your daughter, the one she _will_ be after some years.

'Cara, what are you doing here?' Alana asked standing at the gate of the Keep. Cara was staring at the door deciding whether or not she should enter.  
>'I was just…looking if everything's OK.' she replied not looking at the other Mord-Sith.<br>'I may not be a Confessor, but I know you're not telling me the truth. It's not your shift Cara. Go home.' she said following Cara's gaze towards the door.  
>'I am still trying to figure out where that is.' she murmured, but seen that Alana didn't give any comment, Cara reckoned she hadn't heard. 'You know what,' she added. 'you're probably right. I'm gonna go.' and she departed.<p>

The night sky was still grey. The last rays of the sun were struggling to penetrate it, as they had for the past five days, but something wouldn't let them. Cara started thinking that time seemed to have stopped since Kahlan and Lily had disappeared. She wished she hadn't left Lily alone. Walking down the hill, she was absentminded and hardly noticed Zedd walking toward the Keep. There was somebody else by his side. Then she heard Richard's voice. It took her some minutes to realize that Shota was the one standing next to Zedd.

'What is she doing here?' Cara asked, mostly unconsciously.  
>'Relax Mord-Sith. I am just here to help.' Shota replied instead, not sparing her sharp tone.<br>Cara stared at her, Agiel in hand: 'How do I know you didn't bewitch them just to make them do what you want?' her tone held threat in it.  
>'Don't worry, Cara. For once she's telling the truth.' Zedd put in. Cara stared at him trying to somehow spot whether her doubts were right. 'And besides she can't bewitch a Wizard of the First Order.' Zedd continued seeing that she wasn't convinced.<p>

Cara dropped the Agiel and faced Richard, who hadn't said a word.  
>'Come with us, Cara. We might need your help.' he said simply.<p>

Cara didn't need a big apologetic speech. She knew she had made a mistake and she didn't expect Richard not to be mad at her and his simple words went past their fall out and she gave him a hint of a smile.

He really hoped that Zedd was right. If Lily really was in the prophecies, there had to be something in the Keep.

'General Adrian. To what do I owe the pleasure?' Wizard Corsar asked when he saw the robust shadow of the general sweep through the room.  
>'I was informed Sister Amaryllis was here. I need to talk to her.' he replied.<br>'Well, she's already gone. She just gave the girl the Emperor's orders.' the wizard replied putting his bottles in the secure box. He knew he would only need one more to get enough.  
>'What are you talking about? The Emperor is looking for her cos apparently she escaped.' the General informed angrily. 'How could you let her get away? And talk to the child for that matter?'<br>'I didn't know. Nobody cared to inform me.' the Wizard replied. Despite the amount of magic he had, he feared the Emperor more than death itself.

The General made a few steps until he was only a few inches far from the Wizard's ear and said: ' Well, now you know. Do I need to inform you of the consequences, too?'  
>The Wizard moved away casually and repeated that unfortunately he didn't know where the Sister was or what she had said to the girl.<br>'Then take me to the girl.' General Adrian screamed.

The sudden sweep of light in the dark prison seemed almost too much to bear. They both hadn't seen light in days. Two guards came in. Lily recoiled in the corner at the sight of the big man following them.  
>'Well, well, we have the prodigy child here. Take her out!' he ordered the guards.<br>'No, let her go.' Kahlan screamed. Through the light of the torches, he managed to feast his eyes upon Kahlan's gentle features and thought it over in his head. If the girl didn't cooperate, he always had leverage. 'Take the Mother Confessor too, since she's very eager to play.'  
>'No, please,' Lily begged. 'I'll do anything you want, just let her out of it.'<p>

She tried to get the guard's hands off of her, but they had forcefully grabbed her arms and she couldn't. General Adrian smiled to himself and stared at Lily. He eyed the guards and they opened Kahlan's cell too and dragged them both out.

Seeing the light of the sun after so many days closed in, wasn't good for neither of them. They had to close their eyes and squint a few times; and even after that they couldn't keep their eyes open for more than mere moments.  
>'Put something on her mouth.' General Adrian told one of the guards eyeing Kahlan. 'I don't want her screaming at what I have to do.'<p>

Lily looked at him terrified and started to think about what the Sister had told her. She had to do something.

_'What do you want from me?' Lily asked squinting trying to make out the Sister's face. Somehow she felt she needed to remember that face.  
>'I want to help you.' she spoke gently.<br>'I have to look through her.' Lily thought to herself and voiced this: 'By keeping me and the Mother Confessor locked up? Hell of a way of showin' it.' she tried to leave, but then remembered the wrist bands that were supposed to keep her from leaving the place.  
>'I know who you are little girl and I can assure that you'll need my help if you want to get yourself out of here.' Sister Amaryllis's tone didn't change. She was quite calm.<br>'Why would you do that?' Lily asked finally managing to look at the Sister in the eyes. _

_Her eyes had ashes of a life rather than a present life. They held the color of cinnamon. Lily thought about that because her eyes were actually dark brown studded here and there with a lighter brown just like someone had put cinnamon on. Lily thought she had beautiful eyes, but no matter how much she tried to call empathy forth and look through her, it wouldn't work; she had shields._

'Because then you are gonna make sure my family is all right.' the Sister replied.  
>'Me? And taking that I'll be out of here, what do you think I could help?' Lily asked.<br>'My little sister is all I have.' the Sister started. 'I saw you heal the Mother Confessor that night, that kind of magic is something I had never seen…'  
>Lily interrupted her: 'I don't think I did it. I…don't…' she was confused. She hadn't thought she had been the one to save Kahlan, she had just hoped her baby had just survived by itself. But again, she realized that wishing for something to happen doesn't make it happen, no matter how strongly you wish for it.<br>'Listen to me.' the Sister grabbed her shoulders. 'You are very powerful, more powerful than you are capable of understanding. I saw you save her life and her child that night. I can't explain how that much power can reside in such a young person, but listen to me, I will help you get out of here, if you promise you'll try to heal my sister.'

_The Sister started explaining her plan._

'_Do you really think I'd keep my promise once out of here?' Lily asked childishly.  
>'Your kind never lies.' the Sister replied and in the blink of an eyes, she was gone.<br>'Hey, hey what happened?' Lily asked but only the air heard her._

No answer came, but before she was thrown back into the prison, a voice inside Lily's head told her to 'wait and see'.

'So, little Princess, what do you say? Are we gonna have a little talk?' she hated his voice, she hated him. She gazed upon Kahlan on the other side. Panic clutched at her reason.  
>'Talking to you wasn't part of the Emperor's deal.' her words cut through Kahlan's heart. She wondered what deal she was talking about, she didn't want to believe Lily had betrayed her. She had to have faith.<p>

Lily suddenly felt weak. She eyed Kahlan again and realized that her empathy had recovered more than well. Kahlan was doubting her. 'You can't doubt me, Kahlan. After everything I tried to do. You just can't.' tears welled up in her eyes, but she had to swallow them back. She just hated him.  
>'Oh, I know that. But I also know that Sister Amaryllis paid you a visit the other day, and strange enough, just about then, she kinda vanished.' the General started walking around the room. 'You don't happen to know anything about that, do you?' he asked returning his gaze to her face.<br>'Nope.' she replied, her eyes never leaving his face.

His anger found no edge and in the nick of the second he jumped at her throat. Fright reached her eyes. 'You either tell me where she is now, or I get it out of you…one way.' he started at her body. 'Or another.'  
>'Tell you nothing.' she replied clenching her jaw.<br>'Really?'

It all happened so fast. One second he was holding her throat and the other his knife was cutting through her arm. She screamed and nearly fainted at the sight of more blood on her. Kahlan screamed too, but the cloth on her mouth prevented her cry from being heard.  
>'Do you think you could be more cooperative now?' he asked pushing his fist through her wound.<p>

She was trembling under his weight. She stared at the ceiling behind him. She had to focus on something else other than the pain in order to endure it. Thinking about colors usually helped. She tried to remember the blue color her dress used to have. It was between sky-blue and aquamarine. She had loved it since the very first moment. Her arm still hurt. She tried another one: the color of sunset. She discarded that immediately because of the redness. The smell of blood was going to her head. She had to find another one. White. Kahlan's dress, blinding-white. What did it tell her?  
>'Com'on, tell me where she is and it stops?' he continued.<p>

She paid him no heed and focused on white. Why white? Well, cos it was Kahlan's. But again, blue was more Kahlan's color; it was her wedding dress's color, the color that marked that she belonged to Richard forever. Why else was white important to her? Lilies! Yes, it was where her name came from. When she thought about it, the vision of what had happened to John and Erica's family played all over in her head and the cut in her arm hurt even more. Her screams proved it. 'Com'on Lily, she'll be here any second. She said she'd come. Just think about white.' Lily told herself. 'Yeah, it's the color of purity, Richard and Kahlan's love must be white'.

The General stepped back from the girl and she had the chance to breathe. Without his hands keeping her up, she collapsed to the floor. Her gaze fell on Kahlan's wet eyes. She tried to think positive hoping she would somehow feel it.

'You are stubborn child,' the General started talking not looking at her and walking toward Kahlan. 'I hoped I wouldn't have to do this.' he grabbed Kahlan's long hair and got her up by pulling it.  
>'Please, let her go…please…she has nothing to do with this.' Tears moistened Lily's face thinking to herself that Amaryllis had to be there by then.<br>'Oh, no, no. I think I will just… you know kill her in front of you.' he said sniffing Kahlan's hair. She didn't flinch. 'Or I could…just, you know rape her in front of you.'

Kahlan's eyes went wide with terror, as did Lily's. She got up and rushed to him punching him away. 'Leave her alone!' anger was gleaming in her eyes.  
>He grabbed her throat again and threw her on the ground and ordered the guards to grab her. He pulled Kahlan's arm toward him and standing behind her moved his hand through her body. Lily begged him to stop, but he just kept staring at her.<br>'I am sorry. I can't do that.' he said.  
>Lily called her magic forth and moved away from the guards. 'Please just let her go. I'll tell you.' He stopped for one second. Lily didn't need to look Kahlan in the eyes, if she would she would have burst out crying. Kahlan's feelings were already screaming inside Lily, the fear, the panic, the terror, the helplessness and then… the concern over Lily and over the child growing inside her.<p>

'What if I don't wanna know, now?' he said and threw Kahlan to the ground. 'I think I like her more.'  
>Lily stared at him. He grabbed Kahlan's wrist so hard that she heard the bone break. Just when she thought, she couldn't win, a sound of glass breaking woke her up.<p>

'Richard, they're gonna be alright. Don't worry.' Cara said apprehensively. He gave her a sad smile.  
>'I really hope so.' he replied eyeing Zedd who was walking carefully in front of him.<br>'If the information the Sister gave us is true, it should be around here.' Zedd said.  
>'OK, let's find'em then.' Cara replied patting Richard on the shoulder before making her way in front of him. 'Let's return the heir of D'Hara, home.' she said to herself without realizing she had put voice to the thought.<p>

Wizard Corsar's corpse dropped at the General's feet and Amaryllis was standing in front of him. The box containing the bottles of magic fell on the ground breaking into a thousand pieces. The liquid spread in the pavement.

Lily closed her eyes as the Sister had told her the day before. She felt the call of magic, her magic; she needn't do anything else than call it. The liquid turned to steam in a few moments, blue steam and she breathed it in. She immediately felt her body strengthen.  
>'Cared to see me, Adrian?' Amaryllis asked.<br>'You! The Emperor asked for you.' He made one step back from the body. He knew he couldn't fight her with magic, so he had to find a way to fight her otherwise. He had to use Lily against her.  
>He grabbed Kahlan arm again. She fought him, but he was stronger. Then he remembered. There was <em>one thing <em>that would make the girl angry.

He pushed Kahlan behind him and while Amaryllis directed her hands toward him, he spoke looking at Lily: 'Child, unless you want me to kill the baby you so desperately tried to save, you'll stop the Sister.'  
>Amaryllis looked at Lily. Anger was gleaming frightfully in her eyes. 'Or I could let her incinerate you.' Lily said.<br>'Do you really believe she can do that before I crush this baby out of her?' he said and before he finished his sentence, he punched Kahlan's belly. Kahlan dropped to her knees, bent over, screaming despite the cloth.

Lily felt it again. She looked at him and for one second there was no more anger in her eyes. The was a still calm, a frightening one, the kind of calm characteristic of only one dark feeling: revenge. The power of the Blood Rage swept through her. Kahlan stared at her blankly not trusting her senses. No one, but very well-trained Confessors could use the power of the Con Dar, otherwise called the Blood Rage. It couldn't be possible.

Lily raised her hand and the impact in the air deafened them, even though there was no sound. It was just the fact that they were near the source of magic.

'Command me, Mistress.' the General fell to his knees. If only he knew, how wrong his calculations had been.

Kahlan stared at him. A small part of her mind had hoped that it wasn't the Con Dar, but those words couldn't be mistaken. He was confessed; he was her slave. Kahlan moved away from him.  
>'Remember to tell me why the Emperor wants Sister Amaryllis, before you die.' Lily spoke coolly.<br>'She's the only one that knows the prophecy of the old man, Mistress.' he replied, the meaningless joy of the confessed at pleasing their mistress, shining in his eyes.  
>'What old man?' Lily asked. While he tried to explain, Lily bent down next to Kahlan and took the cloth from her mouth and then freed her hands.<br>'The old wizard that lived by the White Lilies lake.' the general replied. Lily's hand froze along with the other part of her body. Kahlan stared at her. She knew who the old wizard was and she feared what Lily would do if she realized it. Judging by the stillness of her gaze, she probably knew too.  
>'What do you know about him?' Lily got up and slipped out of the Kahlan's hand. Sister Amaryllis stared at her.<br>'I just know the Emperor ordered Sister Amaryllis to kill his family if he didn't tell her the prophecy.' Lily swallowed still staring at him.

She stopped looking at him to take her vengeful green eyes on Sister Amaryllis. Without even looking back, she said: 'You may die now, General.' It took only a few seconds for his heart to willingly stop.  
>'Now I can deal with you.' Lily said staring at Sister Amaryllis. She reached her throat.<p>

Lily wanted her to pay, she wanted her to pay for having killed innocent people, she wanted to punish her for having deceived her into believing her, but something inside her impeded her power for some seconds.  
>'Lily, please don't do it.' Kahlan said trying to stand up. 'I know what's it like. Please sweetie, don't kill her.'<br>Lily's hands hang on the Sister's throat, but she wasn't making a move. Something inside her screamed for her to do it. The Sister deserved it, she had killed people, she had caused suffering. She deserved it.

Just when she was about to release the power, the door slammed open and she caught a glimpse of Richard. He looked at her relieved and then his eyes moved toward Kahlan. He then looked at her hand and recognized the person whose throat Lily had grabbed.  
>'Lily, please stop.' he spoke gently. She kept looking at him, her eyes expressionless. 'Please, Lily, listen to me. People make mistakes all the time. Let her go.'<p>

Lily didn't talk, she just kept her gaze locked on him. His words were starting to make sense to a part of her, but the desire for revenge was still boiling inside her. She grabbed the Sister's throat tighter, and then, it came.

She moved away because the blazing pain in her head wouldn't let her stand. Kahlan grabbed her before she fell. It was happening again, just like that night. Kahlan's train of thought broke. She didn't know how she had managed to save her the last time. Richard grabbed her shoulders and took her away.  
>'It's happening again.' she wailed grabbing his shirt. She was glad to be able to finally touch him, for real, not just in her dreams.<br>'She's just getting out of the Con Dar. Just wait.' he told her gently embracing her.  
>'But…' he didn't let her talk, but then she didn't need to. Lily snapped her eyes open and Kahlan saw the Blood Rage fade. She went next to her and embraced her tight. Lily's arms encircled her body. Richard followed their embrace. He kissed Kahlan's hair and then Lily's cheek.<br>'I missed you.' Lily told him, the sweet tone back in the ringing melody of her voice.  
>Both, Richard and Kahlan burst out laughing at the simple truth. Then Lily slipped out of their embrace to leave them alone and rushed towards Zedd and Cara.<p>

Kahlan threw her arms around Richard's neck and held her head on his shoulder.  
>'I am glad you're back in my arms, Mother Confessor.' he whispered in her ear, a hint of tears in his tone. She faced him and looked into his deep grey eyes.<br>'And I am glad my husband always comes after me.' she said wiping away his tears. She kissed him gently and hugged him again.  
>'Kahlan….I' he couldn't make himself form the question.<br>She smiled and whispered in his ears without facing him: 'Lily's our angel. She saved us, _both._'

He hugged her tighter and closed his eyes transporting himself away from there. He wanted to remember that sentence as perfect.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- Bittersweet**

She looked like an angel, perfectly white and pure. A full moon. She looked like an angel…

She opened her eyes, but she was met by darkness halfway. It wasn't even dawn yet. There was some light in the room, however, even though she was too sleepy to find the source. She tried to rub the sleep from her eyes to make out what had woke her up when her gaze fell on Richard. He was awake and was looking at her. She noticed it was the fire making some light because it was reflected in his eyes.  
>'Hey you!' she said. 'What are you doing?' she couldn't help a yawn.<br>'Just watching over you.' he replied in a whisper. She opened her eyes again and could tell by his eye sockets that he hadn't caught sleep that night, or the previous, or the one before that.  
>'Richard, you can't keep doing this. I am fine and Lily is fine and our baby is fine and you shouldn't worry.' she closed in to his tired face. No matter the fatigue, he still refused to sleep.<br>'Kahlan, listen. I don't want you to worry, I am gonna protect you…'  
>She interrupted him : 'Please, Richard, you haven't slept in days. Please, just lie here with me.' she cupped his face with both her hands and then pulled him toward her. He laid his face on her chest as she moved her hand through his hair. Suddenly he threw his arms around her and embraced her tight.<br>'I was just so afraid I'd lose you and our baby. I can't let that happen again.' his gaze returned to hers. 'I can't live without you, Kahlan.'  
>She smiled as her eyes filled up with tears. 'Spirits, Richard, I love you so much.' she pulled him toward her lips and kissed him. Then it was his turn to keep her in his embrace.<br>'Richard, I love you, but I'm gonna be very mad if you don't sleep.' she murmured sleepily.  
>'I can take mad, I just don't know if I could take the alternative.' he murmured.<br>She took a deep breath and replied: 'Richard, you're right, I'm not fine. But you know why? Cos you're not and as long as you're not fine, I can't be either. So could be fine for me please? Besides, if you don't sleep you won't have enough energy.' she continued a sly smile spreading on her lips.  
>'You mean I am not good enough at…' she slapped his abdomen gently and he burst out laughing.<br>'I am just saying,' she continued in a hushed tone. 'That you don't want a pregnant hormonal woman to be mad at you.'  
>He started laughing again until he spotted her angry scowl in the darkness.<br>'OK, OK.' he gave up. 'Anything for you.'

His words melted her heart, so she took the chance to hug him tighter, as if he'd flee from her any second. But, she knew, it was just her fear playing tricks on her mind. He would never leave her side.  
>'Baby, you still awake?' he asked a couple of minutes later.<br>'Hmm.' she approved.  
>'Tomorrow, I need to tell you something.' he put in. She nodded, but he noticed she was back to sleep, or else she would have slipped it out of him. He kissed her forehead and tried to sleep, but no sleep, no matter how powerful could overcome his fear, so try as he might, he couldn't close an eye. So he was content to hear Kahlan's slow breathing for the rest of the night.<p>

She looked like an angel floating above.  
>'I need to tell her.' Kahlan told herself. 'I need to let her know, but…'<p>

The spiral staircase of the Confessor's Palace connected the first and the second floor in Eastern Wing. On the next floor, there were the Confessor's quarters. Kahlan had lived there for most of her life, she knew every inch of that place. However, when she stayed in Aydindril with Richard, she slept in their room in the other side of the Palace. There hadn't been a Confessor to sleep in those rooms in a long time. Kahlan was the last one of them. Or at least, she had thought she was, until Lily came along.

The sight took her breath away. She had never seen Lily in white. She was sitting in the middle of the spiral staircase, facing the window. The white polished marble tried to conceal her and you had to look closely to spot her white dress, but Kahlan had seen Confessor's dresses all her life; she could recognize them. Lily's dark hair cascaded down her shoulders, being the only mark that she was human. She had embraced her arms around the bars of the staircase. Her legs were hanging limp on the other side, but she wasn't looking down, her gaze was fixed in front of her, in a point where she hoped all her riddles would find answers. Kahlan sat next to her. Lily's emerald green eyes fell on her. For the first time, Kahlan believed what Richard had told her about Lily's eyes. Seeing her wearing white, the color of her eyes swept out. All she wanted to tell her was the truth, that beautiful truth, the truth she almost had not believed herself. Lily had to know.

Kahlan's tears cut his words, his reason, all the arguments he had had to support that it was true. He had found it difficult to believe at first, he still did, but there was a thought at the back of his mind, as if a series of puzzle pieces were getting stuck together and making sense for the first time.  
>'Kahlan, please...just listen to me.' Richard said sitting on the side of the bed.<br>'Richard…' she swallowed. 'How…how could I not know my own child?' tears were rushing down her cheeks and she could hold them in anymore. Besides, even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to. 'It can't be, it just can't be.'  
>'Kahlan look at me!' Richard said, but she stood up and just like that she left the room.<p>

The smell of early spring flowers coming from the open windows filled the castle's lungs and hers as well. She dried her tears with the back of her hand and for one moment she felt a child again. It was the castle's effect. It just stood there, majestic and enormous, that gigantic that it made you shrink in front of it. Kahlan felt like she had when she was just five and her mother had dragged her around the Palace trying to make her remember the way.

Suddenly, somebody grabbed her by her shoulders. She didn't flinch. She knew by his touch that it was him. He whispered her name pleadingly. She knew he was right, she knew he was telling her the truth.  
>But it was weird, to see the most improbable things make sense, and the constant ones just not make sense anymore.<p>

'I know what you're going through.' he murmured. She turned facing him again. Her face was dry now, but the residues of fear and incomprehensibility were still stuck in her eyes. The rosy color of her cheeks started to fade caressed by the wind.  
>'I know you do.' she replied with a firm voice. 'But…it's just my reason can't seem to grab it.'<br>'I know.' He replied. He grabbed her hand and dragged her out. She didn't protest and he didn't try to explain. Before reaching the Keep, he kissed her hand in his and told her:  
>'No matter how much the truth hurts, no matter how much you resent it being true, you gotta know it is true, despite everything. There are books in the Keep that maybe are gonna make it easier.' she nodded. He walked a few steps in front of her and then turned back and kissed her: 'And just to make that statement clear, this is the proof that no matter what, this is the truth.' she kissed her again. 'I love you, Kahlan Amnell and as long as I can think, I will know that is true.'<p>

Kahlan sat next to her. Lily's emerald green eyes fell on her. For the first time, Kahlan believed what Richard had told her about Lily's eyes. Seeing her wearing white, the color of her eyes swept out. All she wanted to tell her was the truth, that beautiful truth, the truth she almost had not believed herself. Lily had to know.

'Hey baby! What are you doing here all by yourself?' Kahlan asked after the stupor wore off.  
>Lily interlocked her arms together and kept looking at her: 'I just wanted to try it out, you know.' she said.<br>'Well, it looks great on you.' Kahlan smiled.  
>'Lily listen, I need to talk to you.'<br>'Kahlan, don't.' Lily said her eyes filling up with tears. 'I know. I don't want you to say it.'

Her words stabbed Kahlan's heart. She had to remember to draw a breath.  
>'How…I mean…What do you mean?'<br>'Zedd told me that I am a Confessor.' Lily replied.  
>'I know.' Kahlan said, but the sorrow inside her heart, finding no other way out, made the vowels of the words fuse with the tears and made it sound like a wail.<br>'And he kinda told me about it, and he also told me that it is a power that comes from birth, from mother to daughter.' Lily's demeanor seemed different. She was suddenly cold. Her sentences were short and concise. However, there was a sensation inside Kahlan that made her feel helpless in this. She felt as if Lily was trying to build a wall around her. But she couldn't grasp the reason why.  
>'I…would be happy to help if you want to know more.' Kahlan replied absent-mindedly as if she wasn't really paying attention.<br>Lily's gaze fell on her again. 'No, please Kahlan. Don't tell me.'  
>'Lily, listen to me.' Kahlan decided to say. 'I don't wanna hurt you. So you are comfortable this way, then I will leave it this way.'<br>'If only you knew.' Lily said to herself.

He had been hugging her for more hours that could be counted. The wind had just changed direction and was hitting their backs. He hugged her tighter, fearing she would be cold, but she was too lost in the maze of her undecipherable thoughts to even worry about it.  
>'Do you think you could talk to me, sweetheart?' he finally asked.<br>She only nodded in response.  
>'Kahlan, Shota was right, Lily is our daughter. Yours and Mine.'<br>She nodded again.  
>'Richard?'<br>'Yes?'  
>'Did you know? Before Shota told you I mean, that night that you asked me to keep her, did you know?' Kahlan asked hesitantly, her head on his lap. They were both sitting in the balcony of their room which watched over the Eastern part of Aydindril.<br>'I did know, Kahlan.' he replied.  
>Her breath caught in her throat. She didn't want to cry again. He continued without a pause: 'I did know I loved her like she were mine…ours. And no matter what Shota says, Lily was my daughter long before she uttered the words.'<br>Kahlan grabbed the hand that was fondling her hair and squeezed it tight. How he managed to always say the right thing to make her feel better, it was beyond her comprehension.

There was a list of things that Lily had proved her wrong about, starting with that oak tree in the garden which she was looking at from the staircase. Kahlan had thought it couldn't be more than 100 years old, but Lily had read somewhere that it was the first tree to ever be planted in the Roses Garden, as a kind of guardian to the symbol of Aydindril.

As Lily climbed up the stairs, Kahlan felt that her heart would burst in her chest. Not wanting to imagine the scene vividly, she put on her Confessor's face, as her mother had taught her and she would have to teach Lily someday. But, even that didn't work this time, because she wouldn't have the chance to teach that to her own daughter, she wouldn't have the chance to let her know what life was like, somebody else had already done it. Somebody else whom she didn't even know that rooted inside Lily's head the person that she was, the person that was climbing up the stairs looking more beautiful than ever, but being sadder than ever. And she couldn't do anything about that. Because if she did, she would lose her, she would lose her daughter, before ever having the chance to hear the word _mom_ calling out for her.

_**I hope you'll wait to hear the rest of the story. I am nearly finished, just have to review it another time and I'll post the rest ASAP. Hope you enjoy and remember to review!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Gosh, I know this is a long one! A lot of things happen. Kinda planning a twist in the story! Hope you like it and stay tuned for more!**

**Remember to review, it's always a pleasure to hear what others think :D**

**Chapter 11- Leaving with the heart in a box**

Her cough woke her up. Kahlan rearranged the bed sheets and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She tried Lily's forehead again. The fever seemed to have broken, but Kahlan wasn't ready to go to her room yet. She cast a glance at the horizon and she noticed dawn was breaking. She got inside the bed next to Lily and embraced her. Lily wasn't awake yet. Kahlan reprimanded herself again. She had done that every waking second of every single day of the four months that had passed since Richard had told her the truth.

And what hurt her the most, was the fact that Lily had grown distant from the time they had been together in the cell. She could see there was something in her mind, but Lily kept postponing to tell her. Kahlan could somehow feel that there were moments when Lily was on the verge of telling her what was wrong, but something immediately impeded her from doing that.  
>Lily coughed again. She had been sick for the past two days. It was mid-summer and the air was warm, but Kahlan had still put a blanket on her. Suddenly, she heard her calling her:<br>'Kahlan?' her voice bore all the broken melodies of a suffering soul.  
>'Yes, sweetie, I am here.' Kahlan kissed her forehead. Yes, the fever was definitely gone.<br>'Will you always be?' Lily asked sleepily.  
>Kahlan tried to swallow past the lump in her throat: 'I promise.' she said and felt Lily's arms encircle her in her innocent childlike way.<br>'Always?'  
>'I promise.' Kahlan repeated. 'Always, just mine.' she thought, but this she didn't utter.<p>

Lily smiled in the dark, knowing it was OK to dream for one moment that Kahlan was really her mother. It seemed as if everything had changed the night she had figured out that when she had been locked in a cell she had thought that Kahlan was her mother's ghost. Lily laid her sweaty forehead on Kahlan's nightgown and breathed freely for the first time in days.

She wasn't fully awake, but her thoughts were racing, maybe they wanted her to stay awake. But she didn't want to. Being conscious bore more side effects than any medicine you could take, sleep was the real remedy, to suffering and doubts and all the tears that threatened to burst out of her mind. She was reminded about the day, when she had first put on the Confessor's dress, when she had not allowed Kahlan to tell her the truth. She regretted that, but she also knew why she'd done that. If Kahlan told her that her parents were dead, that would make it real and Lily hadn't been ready to face that reality. She took a deep breath. Thoughts were definitely not leaving her alone. So she decided not to give in to sleep. No one would be ready for a tragedy to happen to them, at any time, but Lily felt as if it was about time to hear something she already knew.  
>'Kahlan?'<br>Kahlan replied with a kiss on her brow: 'So you are awake.'

The lights of the new day broke through the windows and the heavy curtains painting the walls orange and flaming it with every second. Lily was reminded of the first day she had spent on the castle. It had been just like that and Kahlan had been taking care of her. Always.  
>'Can I ask you something?' Lily said sitting on the bed facing Kahlan. Kahlan nodded fearing the question that would follow.<br>'Are you really the last Confessor?' Lily asked fearfully.  
>Kahlan tried to think of the reason of the question before filing an answer. She needed to find a docile way of saying it. : Well, I thought I was. Then…'<br>'I came along?' Lily completed with a sad smile.  
>'Then you came along.' smiled Kahlan, but she hadn't understood Lily's purpose yet. 'Sweetheart, I would like you to talk to me. You haven't in some time.' Kahlan said deciding not to put off the subject any longer.<br>'I just…' Lily looked into Kahlan's worried eyes and her own eyes filled with tears. However she continued in a resolute voice: 'You being the last Confessor, means…should mean that my mother…is gone. And as I know that Confessor's take mates who are confessed for life, I guess my father is too.'

Kahlan had never thought about it. Maybe knowing the real truth, she had never thought of Lily's version who wasn't acquainted with it. She hadn't paid any attention to this thought and Lily's words arouse a lot of feelings inside her, sadness to see her little girl suffer and not be able to tell her the truth, helplessness at knowing she couldn't let Lily because the effects would be disastrous, and selfishly, a distinct jealousy for somebody else that didn't even exist, but that Lily thought she did.  
>'Lily, I…'<br>'It's OK, Kahlan. I did the Math, you're not as old to be my mother and you are the last of your kind and…Zedd said it is a power that comes uniquely from a mother through birth.' She paused for a moment: 'I knew, that day, on the staircase. That's why I didn't want you to teach me about it cos it was this power the only thing I have from her and the thing that would kill my hope of ever finding her…or them.' Tears were gathering by the minute in Lily's eyes, but Kahlan saw something more than that: courage to go on, courage that seemed to had faded from her eyes during the past months.  
>'Com'ere.' Kahlan said and hugged Lily tight. She didn't cry, her tears had already died out, it was just the truth, something she had known for a long time, but didn't want to admit.<p>

Kahlan had to force her thoughts against the sayings of her heart and had to force reason inside her words which screamed in her mind to just say it and not to care about the consequences.

'Do you realize what that means?' Kahlan shouted. 'Do you really except me to do that?'  
>'Kahlan, you have to, OK? There is no other way.' Richard replied. This was hurting him too, he had to lie to Lily, lie to his own daughter and not tell her the truth because of the spell.<br>'I can't OK? And…you can't expect me not to tell my daughter the truth.'

Richard stared at her and he could not stop the tears streaming down his face 'Your daughter?' he asked smiling. Her anger was erased in a second, and for one moment, no matter how short it was, she felt the distinct ringing and the natural way it came out of her lips.  
>'I meant ours.' she said meekly trying to smile past her sorrow. He didn't let her think for more and grabbed her and kissed her, fast and long.<br>'Richard, you…' she tried to say breathlessly. She pushed him away. 'You can't ask me that, I can't…look into her eyes and tell her that she will never find her mother. Do you know what it's like, to tell a child that? Cos I do. And I hated the person that told me, but there was nothing I could do to change that? I'm not gonna do it.'

She walked away, but he grabbed her, a little forcefully and said: 'Kahlan, you know I love you more than anything else that exists, but telling her the truth will make her memories flourish and the headache will kill her.' She stared at him blankly, knowing the truth of that. She looked into his eyes and saw his pain in unison with her own. She just threw her arms around his neck and didn't say any more words.  
>'They never tell you that.' she said.<br>'What baby?'  
>'That it hurts to be a mother.' she wailed.<br>He kissed her forehead gently: 'I wish I could spare you that.' he told her removing a hair from her face.

She hugged him again. She started to believe Cara was right. She hated magic as well.

-  
>'Kahlan, don't be sad. I'll be alright.' Lily whispered while still hugging her. Kahlan smiled through her tears.<br>'OK. Now listen to me. I want you to know something. Aydindril is and always will be your home. OK? No matter what happens, listen, no matter where you are, and no matter how mad you might be at me or at Richard, I just want you to know, this will always be your home.'  
>Lily smiled; a smile that reminded Kahlan of Richard, so much that it hurt. 'I think I won't be mad at you.' Kahlan smiled too and hugged her again. The baby kicked the maternal room and Kahlan had to put her Confessor's face, just not to show the sorrow of having to let go of one of the people she loved most.<p>

'You know what's the worst part of being you?' Cara asked taking a seat next to Lily on the marble bench. That was the Southern Wing of the Palace. There was an open section between the floors and a small window which you could get out by. Apparently Lily had found that too.  
>'What?' Lily replied immediately wiping away her tears at hearing her voice. She hadn't expected anyone to know her hiding place, but then she thought no one knew the Palace better than the Mord-Siths.<br>'Well, that when you fight with the people you love, you immediately forgive them.' Cara replied eyeing her trying to understand if there was a chance to make her smile.  
>'Why would I do that, not that there's anything to…<br>'See? That's what I was talking about.' Cara said a grin spreading over her gorgeous features.  
>'Cara! I would appreciate it if you could give me some space.' Lily replied getting up and getting next to the side. The view was breathtaking. It seemed like all Aydindril was on the palm of her hand. She remembered the day she had noticed the window on the wall, it was an amazing place.<br>'Could just stop being so polite? It's getting annoying.' Cara said starting to walk around.  
>'I just…don't wanna be mad at you too.' Lily replied putting her head on her crossed arm, still feasting her eyes on the view.<br>'So you do admit you're mad at Kahlan.' Cara smiled.  
>'Stop making trick questions, Cara, please. And for the record, I am not mad at her.'<br>'You know what, girlie, I am right. It sucks to be you.' Cara whispered in her ear teasingly.  
>'And why's that my brilliant mind reader?' Lily replied annoyingly. On one hand she wanted to be alone and think; there was a lot she had to decide about. On the other hand however, Cara's presence took her mind off her fight with Kahlan. The sudden stab of pain on her heart was reminder enough.<br>'Cos being an empath, or whatever you're called, you can't be mad at someone you love, cos their reasons would radiate inside your mind, which would make you understand and lose the fight.'  
>Lily eyed her suspiciously: 'And just how would you know that?'<br>The triumphant grin dissipated from Cara's face and she had to admit: 'Well, Zedd said something like that.'  
>Lily burst out in a heart-felt-laugh. 'Spirits, Cara, your face was so amazingly funny.' Cara smiled too, heartily as well. And she felt a kind on inner triumph of having made her smile again.<br>'See, you little smarty pants, I am not so bad after all.' Cara said.  
>Lily's green-eyed gaze lifted up to her own and she said meaning every word: 'You're not bad, <em>at all<em>.'  
>'So, you wanna tell me what the epic fight was really about?' Cara asked taking a spot next to Lily and following her gaze to the immensity of polished marble below.<br>'I told her I wanted to leave.' Lily replied and felt Cara's stern look on her without needing to look back.  
>'You're leaving? What are you talking about? I completely understand her, you know.' Cara said fuming. 'And do you think you'd go, I mean…<br>'I'd go back where they found me…' Lily interrupted her.  
>'Oh.' Cara's arguments faded away just like melting snow in spring. 'And why…<br>'Cos maybe I'll find out why I am here.' Lily's voice trembled a little, but she was able to get it under control fast enough. However tears pushed her eyelids hard. Her attempt to prevent them from getting out resulted only in the creation of a red ring around her eyes, which only had to the intensity of her gaze.  
>'You know what girlie, I might know a way to help you with that.' Cara suddenly said. It was unusual for a Mord-Sith to bond with someone other than the person they most protected. However it had started with Kahlan and went on with Lily, the change in the core nature of Cara's heart. She didn't pay any heed to the instinct that years of being a Mord-Sith had forged, the instinct to push away those who cared about her and needed her help. She didn't want to think of it as a change of heart inside her, but she liked to think she would be helpful to Lily. 'However,' Cara went on. 'I do have a condition.'<br>'And here's the catch ladies and gentlemen.' Lily replied in a sad tone.  
>'You have to ask Kahlan's permission. She is, after all, your mom.' Lily didn't flinch or get mad, or even like the sound of the word. It was as if Cara had been saying that for all the days of her life, it was as if she had known for all the days of her life and no matter what it seemed like for the first time she didn't need to be ashamed of the thought, but she could simply be glad about it, so all she could reply was a smile that bore, now, the particular smile of truth.<p>

'Can you please stop walking up and down? You're gonna carve a hole in those floors.' Richard tried for the hundredth time to make Kahlan stop the compulsive walking, but she seemed very angry too.  
>'She said she wanted to leave. Now, why would she possibly want to leave. What the heck did I do wrong this time?' Kahlan asked, but it just seemed like her voice was putting matter to her thoughts so Richard would understand them better.<br>'Can you please stop blaming yourself? She didn't say she wanted to leave for good.' Richard tried to put in again, but he realized that Kahlan was talking to her self, precisely battling with herself. He sighed thinking this was just the first fight and probably wouldn't be the last.  
>'I mean I did say some bad stuff when she said she wanted to leave. I didn't…' she stopped walking and stared at him. 'I just don't want my baby to leave.' and her eyes filled with tears again. She was mad at herself for having these moods swings. She knew she had to keep telling her mind that it was not as bad as her hormones tried to convince her it was, but the thought of Lily not filling the emptiness that her guilt left, crushed her.<br>'Ok, com'ere.' Richard said offering his hand toward her. She rushed to him circling her arms around his waist and crying softly on his chest.  
>'I'm sorry, I just don't want her to leave.'<br>'Spirits, you're so pregnant.' He teased, but her scowl made him regret it. 'It's Ok to miss her, baby, but it's only gonna be for a couple of days.' he tried to think of where Lily would want to go and he had an idea. It just seemed that Kahlan knew too, but didn't want to admit it.  
>'Oh, no, no,' Kahlan said. 'She ain't goin'. That's for sure.' and she pulled away from his embrace.<br>'Don't you think it's her call to make?' Richard asked with a sigh.

She stared at him through her watery emerald eyes. 'What if she never wants to come back? What if she doesn't want me as…you know?'  
>He caught her by surprise and kissed her brow and then pulled her back in his soothing embrace. 'Do you fear she's gonna find someplace else to stay?' he asked. She managed a nod. 'And you're worried she's gonna find some other mother out there?' she nodded again. He pulled her at arm's length just enough to look into her eyes and try to transmit his relaxing thoughts through his loving gaze. Then he embraced her again and gently placed a kiss on her hair. 'Lemme tell you something. We're Lily's family wherever she goes and family supports one another whatever the decision. Ok?' he didn't have time to kiss her again because he caught a glimpse of Lily and Cara standing at the door and Kahlan moved from him just when she noticed them.<p>

'Do you think I could talk to you, to the both of you?' Lily asked looking at Richard from under her eyelashes. He smiled and squeezed Kahlan's hand behind her back.  
>'I am sorry Kahlan, I didn't mean to hurt you.' Lily started apologetically.<br>'You don't sound convinced.' Kahlan replied eyeing her. Richard squeezed her hand tighter, but she didn't mean to pick a fight with Lily. She had realized that Richard was simply right. She just needed to find a person to accompany Lily wherever she wanted to go. She had the sensation she didn't want Richard or her to go along.  
>Lily swept her look to Cara and for one second Kahlan's heart skipped a beat and anger and fear melted away at the sight of that childlike gesture and the pain in her heart reawakened, violently pushing her tears out of her eyes.<br>'Maybe cos I still think I should go?' Lily raised her shoulder's gracefully in an innocent manner and Kahlan couldn't stop laughing. Richard breathed a sigh of relief.  
>'Maybe cos you're right?' Kahlan used her same tone. Lily's smile illuminated her face and Cara's eyes showed it too in a kind of odd empathy. Richard noticed that.<br>'So what do you think, you're gonna do?' Cara asked. 'Let this little devil wonder around the Midlands by her- little- inexperienced-self?'  
>Kahlan rolled her eyes confused. She was frustrated by the fact she always had to have a way out.<br>'Maybe Zedd can go with her?' Richard brought up trying to save the day. Lily's eyes shined as if she was getting a surprise present on Christmas day.  
>'Or maybe Cara could.' Kahlan replied giving Richard a meaningful look and the hint of smile that told him where she was headed.<br>'Or maybe you could Cara.' He repeated after he was able to stick his eyes away from Kahlan.  
>'What? No wait, wait. I didn't mean, I'd go with her, seriously, I mean…does anyone ask one's opinion around here?' despite what her words were saying, the expression of triumph in her eyes showed the opposite.<p>

Without waiting any other comment on each side, Lily threw her slender arms around Cara's blood-red leather and even though that inner instinct of Cara tried to surface, the sweet gesture was able to make the tender side of Cara's character come out in its full splendor.

'I told you, OK? I knew that!' Lily danced in the library with the book in her hands.  
>'Well I guess your memory's better than mine.' Richard lied. He had known all along where the book was. He had just wanted to challenge Lily. 'I guess I won the bet.' Lily smiled. Richard looked at her mesmerized.<p>

Lily's smiles had an odd effect lately, all they reminded him of all the sleepless nights when he knew Kahlan was awake by his side and there was nothing he could do to make her feel better. He knew she felt guilty for not realizing since the very beginning that Lily was her daughter. But how could she anyway? It was very improbable.

'OK, little genius. You know you can't get the book out, right?' he teased.  
>'So not the point.' she replied laughing. 'And, yeah, I know, but it's ok. The Palace's library is quite adequate.'<br>'Just adequate? There must be more than a thousand books there?' he said grabbing her hand to get her past the shields. But slipped out because she could go past the shields alone.

As they were ridding toward the castle, Lily suddenly fell silent.  
>'What are you gonna name your daughter?' she asked playfully. Richard didn't expect the question. However he tried not to think about it. He had thought about it, he didn't know how it was going to work. According to Shota's words, the baby Kahlan was expecting <em>was<em> Lily so he didn't know how it was possible for a person to be in two places at once.  
>'I don't know sweetheart, I haven't really thought about it.' Richard tried to avoid answering.<br>'Oh com'on you must've thought of sth.' Lily insisted.  
>'No, haven't.' Richard replied impatiently trying to remain calm and trying to think of the names Kahlan had suggested some time before. None seemed to flourish in his memory.<br>'What about Kahlan?' Lily went on.  
>'What about her?'<br>'I mean is there any name she'd like?' Lily was riding by his side now and was able to sense his uneasiness. She wanted to drop the issue.  
>A voice from the bushes scared Lily's horse which came to a full stop and refused to move. 'Yeah Richard, answer the girl.' It was Shota; she was wearing the sly smile she always wore along with a haughtiness that was typical of her.<br>Richard glared at her angrily, but didn't dismount his horse.  
>'What do you want Shota?'<br>Lily stared at her, her eyes having a scared nuance that was melting in that ocean-deep color. She sensed Shota was to be feared. She tried to get her mind away, but it didn't seem possible.  
>'Well, I thought I might get to see the prodigy child.' Shota replied eyeing Lily. Her look made Lily's fear level rise and she looked at Richard. Even though he wasn't looking directly at her, he was looking out for her by eyeing the surroundings trying to guess what Shota's next move would be.<br>'Well you saw her, you can leave now.' he replied coolly as if he had rehearsed that phrase a hundred times; his mind was too busy trying to find a way to get Lily out of there before Shota disclosed dangerous information.  
>'You're right, but I'd like to talk to her, get to know her. She's after all, from another time.' Lily stared at her, but it was Richard's look that was incinerating her in place.<br>'Get out of here, Shota and stay away from my family.' The distinct ringing of the metal of the Sword of Truth echoed in the air in unison with the rustling of the leaves.  
>'Oh com'on Seeker, you know better. I only need a magic trick and what you fear most can happen.' She teased while her auburn hair and her dress floated in the wind together as if they were both part of her being.<br>Richard pointed the sword toward her. 'This is my last warning Shota, stay away from my family.' He moved his horse in order to get in front of Lily.  
>'And this is my last warning to you Richard, find a way for your daughter to know the truth or this will have been for nothing.' Richard's anger was billowing out of his eyes now.<br>'What do you mean?' Lily asked and her sweet voice instantly appeased him; he had almost forgotten she was there too.  
>'Oh, so you do talk! Richard knows perfectly, don't you Seeker?'<br>'But what truth are you talking about, his daughter is just a baby?' Lily's concern was crystal clear. There were a lot of things about Shota she didn't feel like trusting.  
>'It's the truth you're trying to find outside of Aydindril, little Princess.' for the first time ever since she had appeared, Lily thought Shota was being sincere. However she couldn't help the feeling of being in an open space with no handles, when Shota looked at her.<p>

It only took a blink of an eye for her to disappear just as suddenly as she had entered the scene. Richard grabbed Lily's hand, and guided her down the path, but her thoughts were pulling her too hard to let her get away.  
>'Have you thought of the name Luna?' Lily suddenly asked giving him a sad smile that pierced at his heart. Before he could form a clear answer, her horse was already galloping towards the palace.<p>

The clouds were surveying the sky one last time before making the way clear for the approaching twilight.  
>'Tomorrow morning.' she whispered.<br>'I know, Kahlan.' Richard said. She turned toward him; she hadn't been conscious she was saying it aloud. 'But, she's gonna be fine, I'm sure.'  
>'Are you?' she asked. 'Cos last time I left her alone, I nearly lost her. What if she can't use her powers, what if something happens and Cara can't protect her, what if she's cold or sad or wet or…<br>'Kahlan, look at me.' he grabbed her shoulders and kept her at arm's length. She lifted her eyelids and left her gaze settle on his face. 'It seems to me like she really needs to go there, don't you think?'  
>She nodded.<br>'She doesn't mean to hurt any of us, but she needs to know the truth. And unfortunately sweetheart it's the only thing we can't give her.' he wiped away a tear that rolled down Kahlan's cheek and waited for her reply.  
>'I'm just worried about what Shota said.' she said. Richard was worried too, and even though he tried to dismiss the thought, his words, his gestures and eyes showed his frustration at having to make that kind of decision. 'Richard she said that bad things will happen if Lily doesn't find out the truth.'<br>'But she also said Lily's gonna die from the spell _if she finds out_ the truth. I'm not putting my daughter's life on her hands.' Richard replied frustrated getting inside their bedroom. Kahlan followed him.  
>'What did she say, when she heard what Shota was impling? What did she say?' Kahlan asked caressing his back. His tense muscles showed to her once more the amount of pressure he was under. However when he heard her question, his muscles relaxed and she heard his laugh even though she couldn't see it.<br>'She said we should think of the name Luna.' he turned toward her grabbing her hand and gave it a quick kiss. Kahlan's bewildered expression held something more than just amazement; there was a special light sparkling in her eyes, a light that Richard hadn't seen in some time.  
>'What? Just that?'<br>'Yeah, just that. She didn't ask any questions, even though I think she had many, she just said that and rode away.' Richard smiled. Kahlan looked at him from under her eyelashes and a smile curled up in her lips.  
>'So, what do you think?' he kissed her quick and then looked at her again.<br>'Richard, you know we can't decide such thing…before…'.  
>A stab of pain flashed through Kahlan's eyes. He had hoped this would bring some serenity back into her life, but it didn't seem to be possible. 'Kahlan please, I know it's difficult, can't we at least try to be normal?'<br>'How can you say that? This,' she pointed at her belly. 'is not _normal_, and we can't decide on names just like _normal_ couples and can't do any of the other _normal_ stuff…' her voice was choked off by tears and she ran out in the balcony.  
>He sighed blaming himself. This was a difficult situation that Kahlan was trying to handle. He reached her and embraced his hands around her belly. Her sobbing quieted after a couple of seconds and she just hiccupped from time to time. He kissed her head, she reminded him of little children sometimes.<br>'I am sorry.' he whispered in her ear. She didn't reply to him, but only put her hands on top of his which were caressing her belly.  
>'We're gonna be all right, Kahlan.' he whispered again. Her tears were already dry on her cheeks. 'I love you, Kahlan.' he decided to say.<br>She finally smiled. 'I love you, Richard.' she replied and turning back toward him she nuzzled against his neck.  
>'I am sorry.' he repeated simply.<br>'Well…' she said, her breath gently fondling his skin. He smiled under his breath. 'if you kiss me, I promise I'll think of a minor punishment.' she kissed his neck and he whispered again. 'I love you so much, Kahlan Amnell.'

'So I think we're ready.' Lily said taking her backpack on her shoulders and getting down the stairs followed by Cara.  
>'I was ready a long time ago, little lady.' Cara teased. 'It took you ages to get that miniscule bag ready.' Lily gave her a scowl and Cara's lips curled up in a small smile.<br>Lily caught a glimpse of Kahlan at the end of the long stairs and ran toward her and gave her a hug. Gently, she planted a kiss on her belly.  
>'Bye girlie.' she whispered. 'Please wait for me.' she murmured hoping Kahlan wouldn't listen, but had she looked at the anguish showing in Kahlan's eyes she would have known she had listened.<p>

Kahlan hugged her again and then held her at arm's length:  
>'Have a nice trip, sweetheart.' she kissed her cheek and tears rolled down her cheeks. Lily embraced her slender arms around Kahlan and she somehow felt her pain.<br>'I'll be back, Kahlan.' she whispered.  
>Kahlan smiled and then Lily separated herself from her.<br>'Nice trip, Cara.' Kahlan smiled and Cara smiled back this time.  
>'Don't worry, Mother Confessor.' Cara whispered once out of Lily's earshot. 'She's gonna be fine.'<br>How Kahlan managed a smile, she would never understand. The three of them caught up with Richard at the entrance of the Palace. Lily had to get on her toes to be able to embrace her arms around Richard's neck.  
>'Can I tell you something?' she asked in a hushed tone. He nodded and she started whispering her theories in his ear. His eyes and lips tangled in a twin smile.<br>'Cut all the whispering young lady and let's get going.' Cara said making her way out. She turned her head back for a moment. 'And Lord Rahl, I'd be grateful to you if you tried to stay out of trouble while I am away.' Kahlan laughed at her sarcasm and she realized she would miss Cara as well.  
>Lily gave Kahlan another hug and then ran after Cara.<p>

Only after a couple of minutes later, when their features were mingling with the horizon, did Kahlan realize that she had forgotten what she had planned to give to Lily.  
>'Spirits, Richard, I totally forgot.' she said and before she was able to finish the sentence, Richard saw her run outside. Knowing that stopping her was out of the question, he just waited for her savoring her image into his mind, enjoying her as he often did. She just seemed to get more beautiful every day.<br>It took her a lot of minutes to reach Lily's earshot. She was exhausted and even if she tried, she couldn't walk any further with her baby bump impeding her from watching were she was going.  
>Hearing her name being called out, Lily turned her head back only to see Kahlan following them. She ran toward her and tried to help her calm her panting.<br>'Kahlan, you could have called earlier, why did you come after me?'  
>Kahlan handed her a box. It seemed like those old boxes Lily had noticed in the Keep, but unlike them this was decorated with gold and the opening handle shined so much it must have been silver.<br>'I wanted to give you this.' Kahlan finally said.  
>'What's in it?' Lily immediately asked her childlike wonder evident in her sparkling green eyes.<br>'Something to remember us by. Don't open it now, open it when you miss us.' Kahlan said finally managing to get her breathing under control.  
>'Ok.' Lily said and giving her a hand kiss left again. She only walked a few steps before opening the box. There was a cloak in it, a greenish brownish cloak with white fur around the neck. Lily looked at it mesmerized and happy that Kahlan had remembered she loved cloaks. She turned her head back toward Kahlan and with the harmonious sounds intertwined in her voice she said: I miss you already.' meaning it with every fiber of her being.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

**And here' the twist I anticipated last time! Hope you like it and remember to review!**

**Chapter 12-The truth you left behind**

'**W**e've been walking for hours. I could need a rest.' Cara stated frustrated.  
>'A rest?' Lily eyed her suspiciously. 'Who're you kidding, I mean, you're a Mord-Sith.'<br>'As if that's a synonym for 'untiring person'.' Cara replied sarcastically followed by Lily's laugh.  
>'Still,' Lily went on. 'I know what you're trying to do.' And she smiled at Cara impishly.<br>'And would that be?' Cara asked getting in front of her in order to take the lead.

Lily stopped walking and with her hands on her hips and a mischievous smile dancing on her lips finally said: 'You want me to rest so you pretend you're the one who's tired.'  
>'She's smart, I give her that.' Cara said to herself smiling, with her back toward Lily.<br>'Yeah right, little Princess, whatever you say.'  
>Lily smiled and ran to catch up with her.<p>

The lights of twilight broke in the sky simultaneously. They had been travelling for more than a week. First with horses and then they had had to sell them and go on by foot because the forest braches were two thick.  
>Lily noticed the cottage in the distance. It was hiding under the uprising shadows. It was as if it was a dark spot in an immensely lighted surrounding. Maybe it was because of the trees guarding it, but it just looked like one second you were stepping in the warm light of the setting sun and the next you were stepping on nothing, just like at night when you walk up the stairs and you feel like there's another step, but there isn't and you foot falls into a kind of void. Lily, suddenly grabbed Cara's hand, or better to say Cara's blood-red leather glove. She didn't push her away and followed the haunted look on her eyes.<p>

They walked towards the deserted house. The door was wooden; it had a curious shade of brown, but the walls around where grayish. Lily's nose was stiffed; it was as if she had ordered it not to sense anything. She wished she could order her eyes to do likewise. She left Cara's hand and walked in front of her. Cara stopped pretending she was keeping watch. Lily didn't take the time to think about it. If she had, her courage would dissipate. She pushed open the door. It was kind of dark but at her astonishment the place was empty, clean of the bodies. Flashes of memories she longed to erase invaded Lily's mind. She didn't flinch, she had to do this. She walked in, but Cara didn't allow her to this time. She walked in first, Agiel in hand.  
>'Wait here.' Cara said authoritatively.<br>Lily tried to protest, but Cara ignored her. Lily eyed the house once more, being glad, deep inside that she didn't have to go in first and alone.

Suddenly she heard a wail and rushed in. It was dark and she squinted but couldn't make out who was making the crying sound. Cara yelled some incomprehensible words and then she came out dragging a little boy behind. Lily stared at him blankly and tears started coming down her cheeks.  
>'Cara don't hurt him.' Lily intervened even though Cara had no intention of using the Agiel on a child.<br>'You know him?' she wondered out loud.  
>Lily dropped to her knees and moving the boy's chin to her, she stared at him. His sand colored hair was neat, his clothes as well. Lily looked at him bewildered.<br>'Nicholas?' she asked.  
>The boy stopped crying and trembling and finally decided to lift his gaze off the ground.<br>'Lily?' he embraced his thin hands around Lily's neck.

Lily just stood there, not making a sound, believing once more that she had fallen back into the past oblivion when she didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

Little Nicholas was sleeping peacefully cuddled next to her. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. It didn't seem real. She felt so confused that she had found herself touching him fearing he might just be a hallucination. She hadn't figured out how he'd managed to survive, but she didn't want to think about that.  
>'Hey, you awake?' Cara asked. She was keeping watch as she always did.<br>Lily nodded.  
>'Would you mind telling me who's he?' Cara asked, but there wasn't sarcasm in her voice. She wanted to know the truth.<br>Lily covered Nicholas with her blanket and sat up near Cara and started telling her what she knew in a whisper.  
>'He was John and Erica's younger son. He's only four.'<br>'Didn't you say…they were…?' Cara asked but the moment she uttered the words she regretted it.  
>'Yeah, I thought…they were gone, but…he's real Cara. I mean, it's a miracle.' Lily said tears in her eyes.<br>'How's that possible?' Cara wondered out loud.  
>'I don't know, I mean maybe he wasn't in the house… I didn't have time to look for him that day cos the moment I went in, I…' Lily swallowed. 'I saw Erica and then they grabbed me…but there was so much blood Cara, I mean I thought they were all gone… and…' suddenly a thought came to her mind.<br>'What?' Cara stared at her inquisitively.  
>'Amaryllis.'<br>'What about her?'  
>'I mean, she didn't know about Nicholas, cos if she had known she would have told me. She must have thought they only had a daughter.'<br>'So you're saying Nicholas wasn't in the house at all that day?' Cara concluded.  
>'He can't have been, I mean…Amaryllis would have…done her job, and if she hadn't she would have told me. I mean I nearly killed her and she didn't say anything.' Lily started walking up and down starting to figure it out.<p>

Nicholas's sandy hair glistened in the firelight. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Lily hoped he was dreaming. There was an oppressive weight on her heart. Guilt. She had always thought they were all dead. It was as if hoping one of them would have been alive was too much a burden to carry. She realized that staying with Richard and Kahlan where she was surrounded by love, she had began to feel less guilty, but now it was all coming rushing down on her. When she managed to get out of the vortex of thoughts, she noticed Cara was keeping watch a few yards away and she noticed Nicholas's emerald eyes fixed on her. She smiled.  
>'Hey buddy, you should be asleep.' she said getting next to him and hugging him tight.<br>'Lily are you back for good?' he asked innocently directing his puppy gaze on her eyes as if he wanted to read them.  
>'Well I don't know honey, I met some great people and … I'm sure you'd have a great time there too. What do you think?' she asked hoping this would make him tell her where he'd been all that time.<br>'Well I'll have to see if Isobel gets mad if I leave.' Nicholas said simply rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Oddly, the name Isobel sounded familiar to Lily but her curiosity made her dismiss the thought.  
>'Who's Isobel sweetie?' Lily asked not wanting to push him to talk.<br>He looked at her and suddenly realized Lily and this Isobel didn't know each other.  
>'She is a girl as big as you,' Nicholas said. 'Her granny and she made me stay with them.'<p>

His words were conjuring up disconnected images, but suddenly realized why the name sounded so familiar to her.  
>'Nicholas, listen to me.' Lily said grabbing his shoulders and turning him to her. He looked at her under his weary eyes. 'Could you describe Isobel for me? Is she as tall as I, how her hair looks like? Can you tell me that?'<p>

Nicholas nodded looking a little perplex and then said: 'She's tall and has long hair and blue eyes.'  
>'Nicky, sweetie, is her hair red?' Lily asked and when Nicholas realized that she definitely knew the girl. Nicholas curled up next to her with his head on her lap and it wasn't long before he was asleep again.<p>

Cara trotted beside and asked: 'Did you find out anything about him?'.  
>Lily turned her thoughtful eyes toward her.<br>'Oh, Cara, I just don't get it.' she sounded on the verge of tears. 'I mean there must be a reason why, no? There just has to be a reason for all this mess, for Nicky being here and me turning up and right this time. I just don't get.' She sighed.  
>'One step at a time, girlie.' Cara replied in a reassuring tone. 'What happened?'<br>'Cara do you remember when you and Richard walked on me trying to you know confess Amaryllis?'  
>Cara nodded so Lily went on.<br>'Well, even in the Con Dar, my empathy was still awake, not like usually, but still there. I do believe, though, that it wouldn't have stopped me unless Richard were there, but there was something inside me that made me hesitate and that's why Richard had the time to convince me.'  
>'What kinda thing?' Cara asked putting a stick onto the fire.<br>'A promise.' Lily said. Cara's intense blue gaze fell on her voicing her lack of understanding. 'Well, she promised she'd show up and help me and Kahlan escape if I tried to heal her sick sister.'  
>'Yeah, Richard and Zedd told me something about it.' Cara said.<br>'Well, you know after what happened, I didn't want to look at Amaryllis anymore, let alone help her or anyone of her kind.'  
>'However Richard convinced me to keep my promise anyway, no matter my loathsome feelings towards her. Her sister needed my help.'<br>'Couldn't Zedd do it?' Cara asked taking Lily's side.  
>'Yup he could, but then I decided I had promised, so I had to keep it no matter how abhorring it was to help the person that had killed people I loved.'<br>'So Richard took me to her sister, Isobel and I somehow managed to heal her.' Cara followed her inquisitively, without revealing too much of a curiosity for matters of magic however.  
>'Don't ask me how,' Lily added. 'I have no clue.'<br>'Well, what does this have to do with the boy?' Cara asked.  
>'He lives with Isobel and her grandmother.' Lily stated looking at him lovingly.<br>'What?' Cara stared at her wide-eyed. 'The same Isobel ?'  
>Lily nodded.<br>'Are you positive about that?'  
>'I think so, and …' she sighed. 'I don't seem to grasp this whole ironical situation.'<br>'So what do we do?' Cara asked.  
>Lily thought it over for a while. 'We're taking Nicholas with us, but I need to talk to Isobel first.'<br>'Why, I mean, Nicholas knows you and …what do you wanna talk to her about?' Cara asked agitating the fire with a stick.  
>'I wish I knew, I just have a feeling in my gut I'd better do that.' Lily said lying down next to Nicholas.<p>

'He'll show up, sweetheart. He be a smart boy.' her grandma had been trying to calm her down for most of the night, but she was worried sick.

Isobel decided to get up. Dawn had broken a while ago and now there was light enough in the forest. Having grown up there, she knew it better than anyone. However, fear gnawed at her gut because Nicholas was only a boy. He could have get hurt or worse. She grabbed her coat.  
>'Granny I'm gonna go look for him. He could be in danger.'<br>'You be careful girlie. The woods be a dangerous place.'

Isobel made her way out after scrutinizing the surroundings, her reddish curls floating in the morning breeze. She drew the coat closer. Then she took the forest path casting her intense blue eyes after all the shadows. She loved the forest so much. She loved the smell of the trees, the greenness, the way the dew sparkled in the sunlight. There was a distant birdsong that accompanied her. However she wondered how could it be that how could a place you love ever turn into a menacing place. She started calling out his name, but only the mundane silence of the woods.

She walked for a while calling Nicholas by name, when suddenly she caught a glimpse of the little boy running toward her.  
>'Dear spirits, thank you. You're safe.' She embraced him lifting him up. 'Where were you?' she said caressing his hair. 'I was worried sick.'<br>'Sorry. Are you mad?' he asked regretfully, but instead Isobel kissed his cheek and embraced him again. She asked him again where he had been.  
>'I went home and I found my sister.' His lips spread in a heartfelt grin.<br>'What? What are you talking about?' she put him down, a bewildered look on her face.

Suddenly she realized there were other people coming toward her. She hadn't noticed them because she has been overwhelmed with finding Nicholas safe and sound. She embraced an arm around Nicholas protectively.  
>Then she saw the Mord-Sith.<br>She realized they were in danger and so she whispered in Nicholas's ear to run. He seemed reluctant so she grabbed his hand and started running in the opposite direction.  
>'No, I don't wanna go.' Nicholas said trying to pull his hand away, but she wouldn't let him.<br>'Nicholas we are in danger. We have to run.' she said pulling him harder.  
>'No. No. Let me go. It's Lily, that's my sister.' Isobel stopped and Nicholas took the opportunity to free his hand and run back. Even though she only wanted to flee, she went after him. Nicholas stopped in front of the two women in front of her. Isobel 's breath caught in her throat. It was Lily.<br>'Hello Isobel.' She smiled.  
>Isobel stared at her awe-stricken.<br>'Lily? Lily Rahl?' her eyes went wider as her breaths grew shorter.  
>Lily nodded somehow having an odd feeling of power surging through her. Even though she was hardly a couple of years older than Isobel , it seemed to her that she was an elder compared to the innocent gaze than was sweeping from her to Cara and back. Lily noticed Belle's fear displayed clearly in her sky blue eyes.<br>'Don't be afraid of Cara. She's my friend.' Lily said while eyeing Cara angrily.  
>Cara lifted an eyebrow, but nevertheless put down the Agiel. Nicholas looked from Lily to Isobel with a puzzled expression.<br>The situation was getting very tense so Lily finally relaxed her features.  
>'Come here buddy.' She told Nicholas and lifted him up in her arms. 'Do you wanna say goodbye to Belle and her granny before we leave?'<br>Nicholas nodded and put his head on her shoulder and his arms around her neck. 'But, I like it here.' He suddenly said, fearing to face her.  
>'OK, but I don't wanna lose you.' Lily whispered in his ear.<br>'What do you mean leave? Where are you taking him?' Isobel asked.  
>Lily would have wanted to leave Nicholas in Cara's arms, but knowing Cara, she decided it best to let him stroll on his own so she put him down and walked next to Isobel saying she wanted to talk to her. Isobel nodded and they started walking with Nicholas running up and down apparently merry.<p>

'Are you really his sister Princess?' Isobel asked cautiously eyeing her shoes fearing Lily might get mad at the question.  
>'Rahl is not my name Isobel and I'm no Princess.'<br>'But, Lord Rahl was with you and…I'm sorry I was mistaken…' Isobel was definitely scared by her even though Lily had been the one that saved her life.  
>'Isobel, listen to me. I'm just like you, please don't be scared of me.' Isobel managed a nod and Lily felt, once more, older, even though the time gap separating them was not a big one. 'And to answer your question, Nicholas is not my brother through blood, but he's my brother nevertheless.'<br>Isobel didn't eye her, but Lily could sense the girl was sad that Nicholas was leaving so she voiced her thoughts.  
>'I realize you must have taken kindly to Nicky and I am deeply grateful to you for saving him. I don't know if there's anything I could ever do to repay that.' Lily said sincerely.<br>Isobel smiled, the radiance of it gracefully touching her features one by one. It was as if Lily had lifted with two sentences a twenty-feet-high wall.  
>'Well, I guess we're even then. You saved my life.' Isobel replied.<br>'About that… how's your sister?' Lily asked and even though she hadn't meant it the question sounded sarcastic.  
>Isobel 's smile froze on her lips and she lowered her gaze again.<br>'She's fine thank you.'  
>Lily liked Isobe . It wasn't just because of what she had done for Nicholas, but she really seemed an innocent little girl tangled up in business more complicated than she could fathom. However, Lily's instinct was screaming in her head that there was something definitely wrong with this whole situation. She was beginning to regret letting Amaryllis go, and she didn't want that. Because wanting that would mean she would rather have done the opposite. Kill her.<br>'Isobel , listen to me.' Lily said pulling her shoulders in order to make Isobel face her. 'I realize Amaryllis is your sister and you love her, but I need to know where she is, I need to talk to her.' Even though she didn't mean any harm, Lily's voice carried a distinct tone of authority she never thought she could master. However that didn't bother her as long as it got the job done.  
>'I'm sorry Lily, but I don't know where she is.' Isobel said pulling away from her.<br>Lily's patience was getting to the limit. Only empathy for this poor girl bordered it now. 'You must know where she is, or at least have a way of communicating with her. Please it's important.' Lily begged, but Isobel 's expression remained firm.  
>Lily's anger boiled up. She was hiding something. She motioned for Cara to take away Nicholas and grabbed Isobel 's arm. This time, forcefully.<br>'Listen to me Isobel , I came here to find Amaryllis and I have no intention to leave without talking to her. So you either take me to her, or I promise you I'll finish what I started last time when I eventually find her.' Lily's eyes sent sparks of anger all over the place.  
>'I know what you want her for, and it didn't work. She couldn't cure Nicholas either.' Isobel replied wailing.<br>Lily's breath caught in her throat. Her thoughts began to hammer against her head.  
>'Cure…Nicholas?' Her puzzled eyes filled with tears at the sound of those words coming from her lips. 'Wh…what do you mean?' she didn't try to hinder her tears from streaming down her cheeks.<br>'You …didn't know…' now it was Isobel 's eyes that got wet. 'I'm sorry…I thought…  
>Before she realized it, Lily had her hand on her throat.<br>'You thought what? How could I know, I haven't seen him in months? Tell me what's wrong with him!'  
>'He… he was cursed the day his family died. Since they didn't find him, they cursed him with a disease.' Isobel managed to say swallowing hard under Lily's hand. She tightened the grip.<br>'You mean _she _cursed him. Amaryllis cursed him.'  
>Reason was quickly evaporating from Lily's mind. Her power screamed for revenge.<br>'No, no,' Isobel rushed to say. 'She was there, but another Sister did it on…on…Jagang's authority.'  
>Lily's head started spinning. Her hand froze. She couldn't think it through and the only thing she could think about was hurting Amaryllis. Not having that possibility, Isobel was the next best thing. Her grip tightened and Isobel struggled to breathe.<br>'I swear…I…be…te…lling,…truth. She…n't …do it.'

Memories, laughs, smiles and tears appeared before Lily's wet eyes while she tried to release her power. She knew deep inside her that no matter the anger, her empathy could most likely kill her if she unleashed her Confessor's power on Isobel . She wasn't guilty. She let go of her throat and pulled away and dropped to her knees crying. It was all coming down. She had been avoiding the pain of losing John and Erica, and Amber and Nicholas because she feared grief to be so overwhelming as to drown her life out, but it was all coming down. She couldn't lose him too. He was only a kid. It wasn't fair.  
>Isobel cowered away, but she seemed to be feeling her same sorrow.<br>Lily's tears dried out of her eyes, but nothing could sponge them away from her heart. She directed her intense green eyes on Isobel once again.  
>'How do you communicate with Amaryllis?'<br>'I don't. She comes to me.' Isobel replied making sure to keep a security distance away from Lily even though she half knew she was probably safe.  
>'How long?'<br>'Well, once every few months she comes to visit.' Isobel replied.  
>'What about when you were sick? Did she come that often then too?' Lily asked icily.<br>'She was usually here every time I had…seizures.' Isobel regretted the words since the very first moment she heard their sound.  
>'That mean she must have put a Protective Spell around you so she can come whenever something happens to you.' Lily concluded coolly.<br>'What are you thinking about?' Isobel asked concerned.  
>'Isobel , could you answer one question for me?' Lily asked. Residues of her dried tears were still on her face and on the edge of her voice.<br>The girl nodded.  
>'Do you love Nicholas?'<br>'Of course I do, as a brother.'  
>'Then would you try whatever to save his life?'<br>Isobel thought her response over for a moment and then nodded again.  
>'Then you must do what I tell you. I need to talk to Amaryllis and if the only is hurting you, you'll have to endure that.'<br>To Lily's amazement, Isobel only nodded.

The colors of twilight had long ago disappeared from the sky, leaving only the inky blue of night. Richard strolled in the garden trying to spot the bench in the oppressive dark. He had checked that Kahlan was sleeping for the thousandth time before deciding to take a walk a clear his head. Kahlan hadn't said it, but he knew she expected him to find an answer, an answer to the nothing residing in their heads. An answer for Lily and one for the little life growing inside Kahlan, an answer, a magic spell that would erase all the pain he anticipated would hit Kahlan from all directions. Would hit him from all directions. He had always wished to be a father one day, and ever since he had met Kahlan he had secretly desired, even without knowing the mess of a male Confessor, to have a daughter to always remind him of his beloved wife. Now it was all happening upside down.  
>'Dear spirits, get me out of this mess.' He whispered out loud, mostly unconsciously burying his face on his hands.<br>'The spirits won't help you, Seeker. But, most likely I can.'  
>He didn't show it, but her voice made him tremble.<br>Shota.  
>He checked his scabbard. The sword was there.<br>'What do you want Shota? I have enough trouble, I don't need you adding other problem to the mix.'  
>'You should listen to what she has to say son.' Zedd's voice came out next to where Shota's had, but Richard could see neither of them because of the veil of darkness.<br>'Zedd what are you talking about? You…don't trust her now…  
>'No, son, I don't. Nevertheless, listen to what she has to say.'<br>Richard directed his gaze toward Shota, or better to say her shape, because that was all he could see. He wasn't sure she would notice in the dark, but she apparently did because she started talking.  
>'I've had another vision, a vision of your offspring destroying the world.'<p>

'I won't do it. Forget it.' Cara replied firmly.  
>'You have to. There's no other way.' Lily said with a frightening calm tone.<br>'I said NO. You don't know the pain of the Agiel. Let's better keep it that way.'  
>'Isobel won't cooperate if you don't touch me first. She's sure you'll kill her.' Lily replied.<br>'That, I should do. I'm not putting the Agiel on your head. End of the discussion.' Cara replied walking away, but Lily outran her.  
>'Cara, please. I have to talk to Amaryllis and she won't come unless Isobel is hurt.'<br>'Then throw her off a cliff, slit her throat of something, I'm not using the Agiel against you.'  
>'But I'm asking you to.' pleaded the girl.<br>Cara stared at her. She knew Richard would be very angry if he found out, but this wasn't about Richard. She could of course use the Agiel to cause minimal pain, but somehow Lily was not any other person in the world. Hurting her, or even put thought to it, seemed a sacrilege.  
>'I don't care Princess Lily. Your request won't be granted.' Cara replied walking away.<br>'Cara, stop. You have to. It's just a touch. It won't kill me.'  
>'But it will give you killing pain. What about the link to Kahlan's baby? I thought everything that happened to you, happens to her too.' Cara knew the truth, but the love for Kahlan was the only thing that could stop Lily right now.<br>'I thought about that. I can shield the pain. She will feel it, but it will just feel like a contraction. Nothing more.' Lily replied with a hint of triumph on her voice. She could convince Cara now.  
>+<p>

'Are you ready?' Cara asked.  
>Lily and Isobel, both standing in front of her, nodded.<br>Only when the tip of the Agiel touched her arm, only when she felt her veins swollen near to explosion, did Lily realize what it meant to be who Cara was, every minute of every day.

'Isobel? Isobel where are you?'  
>Amaryllis stopped her frantic running in front of the house. She didn't knock, she just burst in. The sight took her by surprise.<br>'Hello Amaryllis.' Lily said calmly walking toward the door. She carefully eyed her steps, putting one in front of the other. Amaryllis's expression returned calm when Lily came out.  
>'Princess Lily, nice to meet you again.' Amaryllis curtsied playfully.<br>'You know who I am better than anyone Amaryllis, so don't play games with me. Tell me how to cure Nicholas.'  
>Amaryllis's expression didn't show her bewilderment, but Lily didn't miss the hint of it in her eyes.<br>'Where's Isobel, Lily?'  
>'She's fine, but my brother isn't. Tell me how to cure him!' Lily insisted.<br>'I am sorry, but you can't.'

Lily had been repeating one of Richard's expressions in her head all day 'Think of the solution, not the problem.' However, it didn't seem to be working in this situation. She couldn't think of any plausible solution and the helplessness was like a knife across her back.  
>'There has to be a way. You're a sorceress; you must know what to do.' Lily begged, the edge gone from her voice leaving its place to despair.<br>'I'll tell you whatever I know.' Amaryllis replied empathetically going inside and gesturing for Lily to do the same. 'But what I am about to tell you, could bring the prophecies in uproar.'  
>'You would have to choose between the life of your loved ones…<br>'And?'  
>'And yours.'<p>

'It all started when Jagang came into possession of a new prophecy.' Amaryllis started. 'I can't explain you everything about prophecy, but you should hear it:  
><em>'As long as the one coming from another time, wields the power of blue, the one in white and the one bonded to the blade will always fight. The One of the South will never steal her heart's desire.' <em>

Lily's puzzled expression spoke out loud.  
>'I told you prophecy is complicated business, but after a lot of Sisters worked on it, Jagang knew that someone with immense power should be around the Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor. So he ordered us to guard them. However, because of all the guards we were only able to just see if there was anybody new. We knew of an old prophet, not very expert, but nevertheless a prophet, down at the Lily's Lake who could understand this twisted prophecy better than we could, so Jagang sent me along with another very powerful Sister of the Dark to take him, but when we came there we found a family.'<br>'Stop, please stop.' Lily said. 'I don't see the meaning of this.'  
>'You asked me if there was a way for you to help Nicholas. You need to know all of it in order to decide.'<br>Since Lily didn't speak, Amaryllis took the word. 'What I didn't know back then was that Jagang knew you were there. I don't know how, but he did. Since he trusted Rebecca more he only told her to find me and ordered me only to kill the whole family if the prophet didn't cooperate.'  
>Lily's watery gaze was taking in the fire in the hearth and the Sister's words were mixing with the fluid movement of the flames.<br>'Rebecca knew there were five people living there, so before we went in, she threw a curse onto the house so as nobody in, could leave unharmed.'  
>'The old man told us he knew nothing of the prophecy. He said he knew we were going to kill them, but he said he knew that we would pay. Someday we would. I…' Amaryllis stopped for a moment, fearing Lily wasn't paying attention to her words. Then she decided to say it even if the girl didn't want to hear it. 'I killed the little girl first.'<br>Lily didn't eye her. She knew Amaryllis was telling the truth, but this was a monstrosity, it was no truth she wanted to hear. As fast as an arrow hitting its target, Lily sprang out of the chair and had her hand on Amaryllis's throat and her wet eyes fixed on her face.  
>'I told you I don't want to hear it. Just tell me how to cure Nicholas.'<br>Amaryllis didn't speak. Lily's anger boiled in her veins. Amaryllis was unreadable. Lily hated her. But more than her, Lily hated the idea of her, of her being a cold-blooded murderer who killed people, her people, Amber…and yet Lily couldn't abhor her, Lily couldn't kill her, Lily couldn't confess her. The fact that she didn't really hate her was the thing that hurt Lily more than anything.  
>'If you don't wish me to finish what I started last time, talk to me Amaryllis.'<br>'You need to…hear Jagang's plan before….' Amaryllis said.

It suddenly dawned on Lily that she was being careless. Amaryllis was a Sister of the Dark, or at least she had been. Nevertheless she was extremely powerful and unlike Lily she knew how to use her powers. Then why wasn't she using her powers to push Lily away?  
>'Just tell me what I can do to heal him.'<br>Lily gripped her throat as hard as she could and she pressed her fingers in her carotid artery. Amaryllis's blood started thumping under the skin of her fingers.  
>'TELL ME!' Lily screamed.<br>'You have to die so he can live.' Amaryllis managed to utter in a hoarse voice and Lily released her throat as if it were hot iron.  
>'What?'<br>'The curse was put as a precaution. If any of them managed to escape, and you tried to heal them, all your powers, all of them would be transferred to the person who cast the curse…and since Jagang has control over Sister Rebecca's mind…  
>'He'd have control over my powers…'<p>

Lily had only recently found out the real nature of her gift. Ever since she had set eyes on this world, she remembered nothing about; she had only known she had a gift that had been called empathy. By means of it, she was able to feel everything another did without limitations. However being a Confessor or possessing the power to heal as a wizard did was a totally different matter. She had never thought to be so important and that too added to the long list of the things she was sorry for.

'Amaryllis can I ask you another thing?'  
>A nod came as response.<br>'Why didn't you use magic against me? You could. Why didn't you?'  
>Amaryllis replied after a long pause. 'Because the future of the world, as me know it, depends on you, Lily.'<br>Lily stared at her dismissing her words because another question took shape in her head.  
>'Do you know where I came from, Sister Amaryllis?'<br>'I do.'  
>'Something tells me you're not gonna tell me.' Lily said, a sad smile spreading on her lips.<br>'If you are to survive this, you will need to be told the truth only when there is no other way out, when there is no other option, when the only alternative would your death. Only then, and not for selfish reasons, will you find out the truth and not lose your life for it.' Amaryllis said cryptically, as if in a trance.  
>'Goodbye, Princess. Safe journey home.'<br>'Why are you helping me? Why did you help me back at the prison? Why me? And why you?'  
>'I am a Sister of the Dark, Lily. I don't help people because I want to.'<br>'But…'  
>'You so badly wanna believe that, don't you? You so badly wanna believe that I am back to the Light. No, Lily, the world is not that simple. There is no good and bad into the world and I am more than four hundred years old, you can trust me on that.'<br>'I can see you don't know where to put me. Am I good or am I bad? Well, let me solve this riddle for you. There are no such categories. The real question is: Which part of me is most important to you, my good part or the bad one?'  
>Lily didn't reply.<br>'I am not asking for your forgiveness, Lily. Know, however, that help is always given to those who ask for it.'  
>'What is that supposed to mean?'<br>Amaryllis shrugged innocently. 'How am I supposed to know? It's just a quote from somewhere. You're the genius among us. You figure it out.'  
>There was a short pause.<br>'Goodbye Lily.'  
>The dark devoured her shape as soon as she sat foot on the threshold.<p>

Only after she was alone that night, only after she was sure Cara was asleep too, did Lily let out her cries, covered by the cloak she now took with her everywhere.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13-Back to the shadows**

'**I** am OK. Stop worrying.' Kahlan said eyeing the horizon once more. It would be dark soon. She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. She had been sure that was the day.  
>'She'll be home soon, Kahlan. <em>You<em> should stop worrying.' Richard replied caressing her form with his gaze as she stepped in their room again.  
>'I just…I was kinda sure, she'd come today. I can't really explain it, it's just a feeling.'<br>'Well, the day's not over. You should never underestimate the power of premonition.'  
>'Still, the baby…will be here soon.' she said putting her hand protectively over her belly.<br>'Come here.' Richard said hugging her. Her baby bump made that nearly impossible, but he caressed her face instead taking strands of hair away from her beautiful eyes.  
>'Don't worry, my love. We'll find a way.'<br>She nodded feeling helpless once more.  
>'We should go downstairs; have a walk, if you're not tired.' Richard said grabbing her hand and motioning her to the door.<br>'I don't really feel like it, Richard. I'd better lie down.'

Kahlan's voice wasn't able to hide all her fears and her sorrow. Ever since Lily had left, but even before when Kahlan had found out the truth, Richard had seen her gradually drift away from him and hide in herself. He tried to pull her back, but it was getting more and more difficult every day. He acknowledged the oddness of the situation, but he was trying to fight. Kahlan seemed to have lost the reason to.  
>'Com'on baby. It's not cold. You've been indoors enough. Do it for me?' he pleaded.<br>'OK…for you.' she replied reluctantly.

Before they reached the door, they heard a gentle knock.  
>'Come in.'<br>'Lord Rahl, Mother Confessor.' the soldier bowed.  
>'What is it Oliver?' Richard asked.<br>'Our scouts have spotted a wagon coming toward Aydindril, my Lord. It's not one of our own. Should we take them down?'  
>'No. Maybe they're just neighboring lands, seeking refuge here. Did you see who was on it?'<br>'No, my Lord. They were a couple of hours far. Should we check?'  
>'Yes. Don't do anything before you check who the passengers are.' Richard said while Kahlan squeezed his hand. He was thinking the same as she.<br>The soldier saluted with a fist to his heart and left.  
>'Maybe, you were right after all, Your Highness.' Richard smiled and finally he saw the sparkle back in Kahlan's smile.<p>

'I think I should go on first, Cara. I need to ask them after all.' Lily said covering Nicholas with a blanket.  
>'It's almost dark. We'll be there tonight anyway. Why should you go in the dark? And what makes you think, you'll be there faster than a wagon?' Cara replied. The bumping of the wagon was making her nervous.<br>'I'll take one of the horses. Com'on Cara. The city is surrounded by guards and you said the scouts had noticed us since we were a good deal away. We'll stop at the next patrol and tell them who we are so one of them can accompany me.' Lily replied. She couldn't wait to meet Richard and Kahlan, but he also had to meet them before showing up with Nicholas.  
>'Why shouldn't I accompany you?'<br>'Cos you gotta stay with Nicholas.' Lily replied.  
>'Me? Are you kidding me?'<br>Lily's scowl was all Cara was greeted with.  
>'Look, I have a better idea.' Cara said. 'We descend at the next patrol, and you and I go first and tell the guards to accompany the carriage with Nicholas behind us, so we don't even have to wake him up.'<br>Lily smiled. 'Makes sense.'  
>'More than your plan, that's for sure.' Cara smiled too, happy that the dark concealed her features.<p>

'Richard, Kahlan? Is anyone here?' Lily said as soon as her feet touched the ground. She greeted the guards at the door, who seemed happy to see her and to see she remembered all their names.  
>The spikes of the Confessor's Palace embraced the darkness of the night giving the impression that they were aiming at the sky. However majestic the Palace seemed, it warmed Lily's heart to be back. It might seem a threatening look to many, but to Lily it meant the sweet flavors coming from the kitchens, the white polished marble which seemed so pure and at the same time so experienced having faced everything that had happened to the Midlands for thousands of years. Home.<p>

'They must be in.' Cara said wiping her brown leather clean with her gloves.

Richard came in front of Lily as she came inside the Confessor's Palace.  
>'Richard!' she didn't wait any more seconds and ran toward him circling her arms around his neck as he lifted her up in his arms. He noticed she was wearing Kahlan's cloak. It smelled like her now, but he knew it would mean a great deal to Kahlan to see that. Lily didn't want to let him go, so he kept her in his arms whispering stuff in her ear.<br>'I missed you so much.' she said once he put her down. 'Spirits, I missed you, so much.' she repeated her eyes filling with tears. He hugged her again.  
>'I missed you, too, sweetheart.' He kissed her head and let her cry silently.<br>'Kahlan!' he heard her say when she caught a glimpse of Kahlan descending the stairs behind him.  
>Kahlan's eyes were wet with tears. She made it to the end of the stairs and Lily separated herself from Richard and ran toward her. When she was about to throw herself in Kahlan's arms, she stopped and noticed her baby bump. She simply threw her arms around Kahlan laying her head on Kahlan's chest.<br>'I kept my promise, Kahlan. I'm back.' she said as she moved her small hands on Kahlan's belly.  
>Kahlan could not speak. She had locked her eyes on Richard and he was able to percept her pain and sorrow entangled with the joy of having her little daughter back.<br>She kept caressing Lily's hair which had grown considerably in a month. She had grown thinner, but Kahlan intended to turn her back to her normal beautiful self as soon as a heartbeat.  
>'Maybe we should sit down.' Lily whispered with a trembling voice, but with smiley eyes. 'I intend to hug you for as long as I am awake, I don't know if you can keep up.'<p>

Kahlan and Richard, both burst out laughing and Richard grabbed Kahlan's hand directing them toward the main rooms.  
>'Where's Cara anyway?' he asked.<br>There was a cough in the distance and Richard noticed Cara approaching, alongside Berdine.  
>'Lord Rahl, Mother Confessor.' Cara bowed formally, a hint of a smile dancing on her lips.<br>'Good to see you, Cara.' Richard said going toward her intending to hug her.  
>Understanding his intention, Cara shot him a scowl and said plainly, but mischievously as well: 'Mord-Sith don't do hugging, Lord Rahl.'<br>Richard smiled and hugged her anyway. Lily and Kahlan eyed each-other fighting hard to keep from laughing. With effort, Cara managed to escape the hug, even though Lily believed she was only keeping up appearances and not actually being genuine.  
>'Mother Confessor, I hope you're pleased with the result.' Cara said playfully running her hand as if to show a gift and not a human being, Lily.<br>Lily giggled searching Kahlan's eyes to see what she was thinking. Kahlan's tone was authoritative, but her eyes were smiling.  
>'Well, she looks pale and a lot thinner and her clothes are a mess, but at least she's all in one piece, Cara.' Kahlan replied turning her back to her less she would burst out laughing.<br>'But, Mother Confessor. I think she's perfectly fine, despite the … little things you pointed out.' Cara replied worriedly elbowing Lily to speak up.  
>'Oh, Kahlan, I'm fine. Cara did a good job. She even cooked something comestible once.' Lily giggled.<br>Cara shot her a scowl, but didn't speak. Kahlan finally turned her face toward her and there was deep gratitude shining in her emerald eyes, if only Cara were looking. But, she was staring at the floor.  
>'In view of the circumstances…' Kahlan paused to stress the gravity of the situation. 'I deeply thank you, Cara, for having taken care of Lily and having brought her home safely.' Kahlan said a genuine smile illuminating her features.<br>The others burst out laughing, but in the nick of the second, a grin spread in Cara's face as well and she sought to take the reins of the situation.  
>'Why, thank you Mother Confessor. She's a full-time job, she is, but I did my best.' Lily couldn't help laughing, while Cara left the hall as Berdine teased her.<p>

Then Lily remembered she had something to tell them.  
>'Richard, Kahlan, I have something I need to tell you.' she said frightfully gathering all the arguments she had carefully selected on their way back.<br>They shot each other a scared look and the three of them entered the throne room. Kahlan sat on a chair, with Richard behind her and Lily labored to find the arguments to persuade them to keep Nicholas. Strange enough, none came.  
>'Well, when I went back, I believed…you know that I would find something maybe about my past and well…I happened to find something.'<br>'What was that sweetheart?' Richard asked, encouragement in his voice.  
>'Well, remember when I told you that I thought they had all been killed?' she paused. 'Well, they hadn't.'<br>Richard and Kahlan shared a worried look as Richard offered Lily a chair in front of them. Lily sat, but her eyes were still stuck on the white marble of the floor and she was playing with one of the strings on her dress.  
>'What do you mean?' Kahlan asked.<br>'Their son, Nicholas, he was alive and I found him.' Lily said and finally lifted her eyes to look at them.  
>'That's amazing, sweetheart.' Richard said grabbing her hand in reassurance. Lily looked at them puzzled.<br>'Well, yeah, I guess, I mean…'  
>'Where is he?' Kahlan asked. 'Is he OK, now?'<br>Lily stared at her incredulously. She hadn't expected them to be so comprehensive.  
>'Well, I kinda…brought him with me.' Lily shrugged apologetically.<br>'That's great!' Richard said. 'Let me tell Mistress Sanderholt to arrange another bed in your room. That OK?'  
>'He can stay?' Lily finally asked looking at Richard and Kahlan's radiant faces.<br>'Of course he can. You doubted it?' Kahlan asked dragging her chair next to Lily.  
>'Well…'<p>

Richard rushed outside and Ulic and Egan standing at the door followed him. Lily rested her head on Kahlan's lap.  
>'He can stay. It was that easy.' She murmured.<br>Kahlan planted a kiss on her hair and it wasn't long before sleep of exhaustion engulfed Lily.

'So you asked them?' Cara asked as she and Ulic were walking with Lily at the garden. Ulic seemed absentminded, but he just wanted to look discrete and not put his nose in their conversations.  
>'Well, they said Nicholas can stay.' She replied dragging the hem of her long dress behind.<br>'But, you didn't ask them, right?' Cara added.  
>'Well, I didn't actually believe they were gonna let him stay, I mean they're having their own baby.' Lily replied taking her cloak off and putting her on her hand. Ulic offered his hand gracefully, but she politely rejected.<br>'You gotta be kidding. Of course they were gonna let him stay. They couldn't throw him out. It's unlike them.' Cara said. 'And besides, they won't love you less cos of the baby.'  
>'I'm not gonna be around that long.' Lily murmured speeding up her pace.<br>'What do you mean?' Cara asked raising her voice.  
>'Nothing, I just…' Lily replied with a dismissive sign of her hand.<br>Cara grabbed her arm a little forcefully and shot Ulic a scowl when he meant to remove it. He backed away.  
>'What did you mean?' Cara asked again stressing every syllable.<br>Cara's grip was getting tighter, but Lily couldn't tell her the truth so she thought to find a way to make Cara forget it.

But suddenly a shout from the main hall retrieved their attention.  
>'Miss Lily, miss Lily come quick!'<br>A young maid was shouting from the door.  
>'Is it Kahlan?' Lily rushed toward the door slipping away from Cara's grip. 'Is she OK?'<br>'No, it's the little boy.' the maid said. 'He's…'

Lily didn't let her explain and ran toward the stairs climbing them two by two. She tripped on the hem twice and then she gripped it forcefully to pull it over her knees.  
>'Kahlan?' she shouted her name. 'Where is he?'<br>No answer. The halls were silent. Empty.  
>'Richard?'<br>Still no answer. She rushed to her room.  
>Then she saw them. There were a lot of people.<br>'Lily, stay back.' Richard grabbed her shoulders trying to pull her away. 'He's kind sick, it could hurt you.' Richard added fearing that Lily's empathy would make her sick as well.  
>'No, let me see him.' Lily tried to break free. She noticed some blood on the knob of the door. 'Richard let me go.' She yelled.<br>'Sweetie, he just tripped. Nothing serious. There was blood coming down his nose. He's gonna be fine. Zedd's in.' he said and gently, but firmly dragged her away from the door. There were two maids and Richard's guards there. Lily turned her gaze to Richard.  
>'Richard please just let me go. If he's fine, let me go.' She begged tearfully.<br>'I'll take you to him, later. I don't want you feeling it.' he said while eyeing the door anxiously.  
>'I can't feel it.' she admitted crying. 'I can feel nothing.'<br>Richard stared at her.  
>'Lily, I know you wanna go in, but lying is not…'<br>'I am not lying, he is…I can't feel it…they…. Oh, Richard, please just let me in.' she said and took advantage of Richard's confusion to storm inside the room.

Little Nicholas was in his bed, his eyes closed. Lily's heart skipped a beat, but then she saw his chest move. The surgeon by the side of his bed smiled. He had just finished putting a bandage on Nicholas's nose. A crisp smell irritated Lily's nose. Blood. There was a lot of blood. Somebody patted her shoulder. Zedd.  
>'Zedd, thank you. Did you heal him?' she asked hugging him.<br>'No sweetie, I couldn't.' he replied puzzled and worried.  
>Lily closed her eyes trying to fight back the tears. She had hoped he could. For one second she had hoped he could.<br>'My magic didn't seem to work on him.' he added.  
>'I know.' She whispered.<br>'You do?' he scanned her and since he was much taller, it seemed to Lily that he was looking from high above.  
>'I tried. I did. I tried hard.' She burst out crying as he patted her shoulders and drew her to him.<p>

-

'What is it, sweetie?' Richard asked, sitting in the chair next to their bed, where Kahlan was sitting. 'You said it was important.'

Lily's eyes wandered from the floor to Kahlan's belly a few times and she cleared her throat.  
>'While travelling with Cara, I met Isobel.' Lily said and Richard couldn't sit any longer.<br>'That Isobel?' Richard asked. 'Answer me, Lily. That Isobel?'  
>She nodded.<br>'Nicholas had been staying with her and her grandmother.' Lily replied as if she was been interrogated.  
>'What did she tell you to make you worry so much, sweetheart?' Kahlan asked.<br>Lily locked her gaze on her apprehensive eyes. 'Nicholas's sick. Very sick.'

Kahlan would have expected Lily to burst out crying, or at least to have tears. But's Lily's voice had something new to it, a new sharp edge, cold as stone, a Confessor's voice. Seeing Lily try to hide her feelings, gave Kahlan a sense of sadness. She had been taught that when she was very little, but she didn't want Lily to do that, she wanted Lily to share with them all her sorrows and joys. She didn't want to see Lily like that, knowing her soul was being torn apart.  
>'Maybe Zedd can do something.' Richard suggested.<br>'I met Amaryllis, Richard.' Lily said coolly. 'It takes all the Han of a full wizard, she said. To save Nicholas. It takes all the Han of a full wizard. Even Zedd couldn't do that. Without killing himself.' She said sadly and returned to staring at the floor.  
>'Well, we will figure something out.' Richard encouraged. 'Maybe I can, I have both sides...'<br>'Only I can, Richard.' Lily said stealing a glance from Kahlan's belly hoping she wouldn't notice. Richard did.  
>'What are you trying to say Lily?' Kahlan said.<br>'I have to ask you something, but you have to promise me, you will listen till I finish and will help me. I know you won't want to, but you have to, there's no other way.'  
>'There is a spell that Zedd can perform on you, Kahlan.' Lily said. She was standing up now. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away.<br>'On Kahlan?' Richard voiced the question.  
>'Richard, you both have to allow Zedd to cast a spell on Kahlan so she can give birth earlier.'<br>'What?' both Richard and Kahlan said. 'What are you talking about?'

The world was rushing down on Kahlan. She couldn't understand why Lily would be asking such thing, but she did not bother with that at the moment. Giving birth earlier, meant Lily, that version of her, the older version, the girl she knew would disappear. She wouldn't do that for the world. She wanted her there.

'It takes all the magic of a full wizard, Richard.' Lily said quoting Amaryllis. 'I can't do any magic that can possibly cause me harm, while her baby…your baby is linked to me.' Lily replied. 'You have to allow Zedd to do the spell, so I can heal Nicholas.'  
>'But, she's not… Zedd's a wizard of the First Order. Maybe…' Richard tried to think. He had to think. What Lily wasn't saying, was that healing Nicholas would kill her. She hadn't said it, but he could read it between her words. That was why she was asking them that. By dying she would take the baby with her. Well, that was true, but when the baby would be born, she would disappear and wouldn't be able to help Nicholas.<br>However, she didn't know that part.  
>'Richard I am the only one that can do it. I have the gift, both sides, just like you, and I am an empath. And he's my…brother. Please let Zedd do the spell.'<p>

Kahlan stood up to stand next to Richard.  
>'No.' she said plainly.<br>'But, Kahlan, I know you're worried about the baby, but we'll make sure she's OK…Please he's gonna die, if I…'  
>'I said no, Lily.' Kahlan replied and purposefully caressed her belly. Richard stared at her.<br>'But Kahlan, you can't. Please, he's gonna die, Kahlan. He will die for sure, if I don't help him by next week.' She said crying. 'Please…'  
>'By next week?' Richard asked grabbing Kahlan's hand as if to question her words. She was wearing her unreadable Confessor's face.<br>'On the seventh full moon after the curse in put on him, he will die.' Lily said crying, her gaze locked on Kahlan's unwavering eyes. 'That's next week.'  
>'Kahlan, please.' she continued. 'Your baby is due any day now, anyway. Please, you can give birth and not hurt her…and I …'<br>'What about you Lily?' Kahlan asked.  
>Lily looked at her, tears still rushing down her cheeks falling off on her chest. 'Please Kahlan, he's sick, I can't think about…'<br>'What will happen to you Lily?' Kahlan asked, but this time her voice faltered, tears gathering on her eyes as well. Richard squeezed her hand. That was the only way to stop Lily. Healing Nicholas would kill her.  
>'I don't know.' Lily admitted. She steadied her voice and tried again. 'Kahlan, he's only four. I am the cause why all his family was exterminated; I can't let him die, if I can help.'<br>'I know, but…I can't let _you_ die…' Kahlan replied and made her way toward her to embrace her. Lily moved a step back.  
>'Kahlan, you can't do this to me.' there was anger in her voice. 'Kahlan, don't do this.' tears meandered down the previously dried ones.<br>Kahlan embraced her, but Lily pushed back.  
>'Kahlan, please, please, please… You have to.'<br>There was a small pause.  
>'Kahlan, don't make me choose, please. Please, don't make me choose.' Lily said dropping to her knees. 'You can't do this, you have to help me.'<p>

Kahlan's heart came to her throat. She swallowed the tears and felt the salty taste as other tears dripped down her cheeks. She went to her knees next to Lily.  
>'I am really sorry, but I can't let you die.'<br>Lily's crying was harder.  
>'But, I have to help him.' the hiccups made her start coughing as her strands of hair covered her face.<br>'I know sweetheart.' Kahlan said.  
>Lily raised her eyes and trying hard to breathe properly. 'Please, Kahlan. Please, I can't help Nicholas without killing her…' she said eyeing her belly. 'And I can't keep her alive, by being forced to survive his death. Please, don't make me choose…' she said as Kahlan encircled her arms around her neck and Lily put her head on Kahlan's lap.<br>Richard sought Kahlan's eyes. She couldn't speak, but he saw she would never agree to the spell. And if he knew Lily enough, she would not accept that decision.  
>'I know it's hard, sweetie, but…' Kahlan couldn't finish her words cos Lily rushed to her feet pushing her away forcefully. Kahlan lifted herself up with Richard's help.<br>'Lily, stop it.' Richard yelled.  
>'I am not letting him die.' she replied angrily.<br>'And I'm not letting you die.' Richard replied.  
>'You're making me choose, Richard, between two people I love equally. I don't care what happens to me…'<br>'We're responsible for what happens to you.' Richard said.  
>'No, you're not. You're not my parents.' Lily replied angrily hoping this would make them hate her and let her go on with her plan.<br>'Yes, we are…' Kahlan replied. Richard stared at her.  
>'No, you're not and I need to save my brother. I am not just gonna wait for him to die.' Lily replied. 'Let Zedd, do the spell.' Richard could notice the air around Lily sizzling with her power. He knew she wouldn't use her power on them, but he was afraid her power could work as his, through need and instinct.<br>'Yes, Lily we are. Parents don't let you do whatever you want, no matter how mad you might be, and parents think first and foremost about their ch…  
>'Then think about your child.' Lily shouted. 'If I get hurt, she will too and I can't prevent it, but you can.'<br>'I can't give birth before due, Lily, or you would…'Richard stopped her.  
>'What she is trying to say, is that we should try to find another way to save Nich….'<br>'There is NO other way.' Lily replied angrily. 'Zedd is the most powerful wizard after you and he couldn't do it. There is no other way.' Lily replied resigned. 'Unless you agree…'  
>'I can't let this baby come to live earlier Lily, cos this baby is…you.' Kahlan said.<br>'Kahlan stop it.' Richard said tears in his eyes. She paid him no heed as she walked toward Lily caressing her belly.  
>'This baby, Lily, is you. That's why you don't remember your past, your family, a curse was put on you so you…'<br>'Kahlan, I know you wanna save me, and I love you for that, but…' she paused. 'It can't be. Please let Zedd do the spell.'  
>Kahlan stared at Richard, not having realized that as difficult it had been for her to accept the truth, it would be ten times harder for Lily.<br>'But, Lily I'm not lying…'Kahlan said, but Richard intervened.  
>'Kahlan, please stop.' he grabbed her arm.<br>'Let me go.' She raised her voice. He released her arm and saw her grab Lily by her shoulders to make Lily look into her eyes.  
>'I know you love Nicholas, but I can't let you do anything to harm yourself, cos if you get hurt, this baby…' she pointed to her belly. 'will get hurt with you. And not cos of your gift, but cos this baby <em>is<em> you.'

Baby. You. Travel in time. Past. My past. My family.  
>The words drifted in the air losing their coherency, their meaning, sound-numb, as Lily stared at Kahlan's eyes. The world kept going crazier and crazier and this time she couldn't keep up. She stared at Richard. A lot of things started coming back into place, but NO… This didn't make any sense, this wasn't true, this couldn't be happening. She looked back into Kahlan's eyes once more, realizing they were much like her own and lowered her gaze to the floor. Kahlan's grip on her shoulders loosened, but didn't cease.<br>'Can I go?' Lily asked.  
>Kahlan left her shoulder as if they were hot iron. Lily didn't look back and left the room. Not running, though. She simply walked out.<p>

'Kahlan why did you do that?' Richard asked after he was sure she was still breathing.  
>'I don't know.' she confessed. 'It was as if it was…I mean, just like there was nothing that could stop her.'<br>He sat by her side and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick kiss. She responded with a sad smile.  
>'What if something happens to her, because of it?' Kahlan wondered out loud.<br>'I don't know, my love, I really don't.' Richard replied moving his hand protectively around her shoulders and putting a kiss on her brow.  
>'Why did it have to happen Richard? What did we do wrong for all of this to happen?' she wailed. 'If we do the spell, she leaves and the boy will die. If we don't do the spell, she'll leave a little later and we let a little boy die. And if we allow her to heal him, she dies. What was I supposed to do?' she said as her tears stabbed his soul.<br>'I don't know, Kahlan. I really don't.' he said as she grabbed his shirt in her fist and cried more.

-

'Did you find her?' Richard asked Cara as she tried to labor to breathe. She had been running around.  
>'Not yet, but don't worry. She's in the castle; I checked with the guards at the entrance, she's still in.'<br>'Kahlan's not feeling well. I know Lily hasn't been out of her room for some days, but I need to know whether she is feeling fine.' Richard said. 'Did you check her room?'  
>Cara shot him a scowl, that felt like a slap on his face.<br>'Ok, sorry. Of course you did.'  
>'And just so you know she's been the Keep for the past few days with Zedd. They've been reading some big dusty books.' Cara said.<br>'Oh, well, maybe they found something.'

Suddenly the sound of feet tapping the floor caught his attention. Nicholas was running toward him. There was blood in his arm. Richard caught his arm, but only then realized he wasn't hurt.  
>The blood wasn't his.<br>'Nicholas, where is Lily?' he asked as the little boy tried to dry his tears.  
>'She's not talking anymore. She said she would take…the pain' his hiccups didn't let him speak.<p>

Richard yelled for a maid to come take care of him as he followed the hall to Nicholas's room.

She was laying on the bed. Her right arm was stretched out of it. Too much blood was covering it, as if her veins were cut. She kept staring at her arm without doing anything to keep the blood for coming out. She just stared at it.  
>Richard paused for a moment on the door. He heard Kahlan's voice behind him. She was rushing to catch up with him. He gave her an apologetic look.<br>'Ulic, Berdine, please escort Kahlan out of here.' he ordered.  
>'Richard, what's wrong? How is she?' Kahlan asked as she approached. She was gripping her arm forcefully. Richard grabbed her arm to give a look. It looked fine.<br>'It's just thumping a little, like when I do a lot of writing. I'm fine.' she dismissed it trying to get into the room.  
>'Ulic, Berdine, I seem to remember giving an order.'<br>They all stared at him, but then both of them grabbed Kahlan's shoulders.  
>'Richard, what are you doing? What's happening to her?' Kahlan tried to break free. Both Berdine and Ulic were being gentle. They had been ordered to move her away, but they weren't moving. Richard's angry voice, seemed to wake them up.<br>'Get the Mother Confessor in her room. At once.'  
>'Richard! Stop, the both of you.'<br>She broke her arm free and grabbed Ulic's throat. He didn't as much as flinch, even though he knew that a sip of her power would destroy him.  
>Richard grabbed Kahlan's shoulders as fast as a heartbeat and whispered in her ear.<br>'I just don't want you to see her right now. Please go to your room.'  
>She glared at him and put her hand down. There was no need for Ulic and Berdine to grab her arms anymore; she was walking toward her bedroom.<br>'I love you, Kahlan.' Richard shouted, so this wouldn't be called a fight.  
>She turned her face to him, emotionless and just scowled. He smiled. That meant she didn't like it, but that at least she understood. He kept looking at her moving through the large hall fearing she would come back. She was still gripping her arm.<br>He rushed back into Lily's room. Cara was sitting by the side of her bed.  
>'She won't answer to me, Lord Rahl.' Cara said her voice failing. 'She keeps staring at me, but it's like she's looking through me.'<br>Richard got to the floor next to her and looked into Lily's eyes. Her eyes were transfixed on her bleeding arm. He grabbed the sheet and covered her arm.  
>'Do you want me to call a surgeon, or Zedd?' Cara asked.<br>'I don't know.' Richard replied. There was a short pause.  
>Cara shot out of the door anyway. She didn't know if they could help, but she had to try.<br>'Lily?' he slapped her gently. Her look didn't waver. 'Lily look at me? What the hell are you doing?'  
>This was definitively magic. The sheet got red and he had to wrap it around her arm a few times. Then he realized he could use his own magic to heal her. He closed his eyes trying to concentrate. He couldn't think of the consequences if he failed. He had to act. He let himself lose in the heat of need and placed his arms over her blood-soaked wrist. He felt magic seeping out of him, but the cut didn't close, the bleeding didn't stop. However her look gained focus.<br>'Lily? Why can't I heal you? What have you done?' he asked.  
>'I …did it.' she said mysteriously looking at her arm again. Her face was as white as the flower of her name.<br>'What the heck did you do? I can't stop the bleeding.' Richard said sitting by her side wrapping up the end of the sheet around her wrist and applying pressure.  
>'Magic can't help.' She said meekly her eyes half closed.<br>'No, no, no. Stay awake.' he said shaking her head.  
>Suddenly it dawned on him. He had seen it before.<br>'Lily, answer something for me please? Magic doesn't work only on Nicholas. What did you do?'  
>She briefly opened her eyes.<br>'I did it, Richard. I took the curse upon myself.' she smiled and eyed her bleeding hand again. Her smile vanished at the sight of the blood covering the cloth.  
>'Are you crazy? How did you do that?' Richard asked.<br>She didn't answer anymore. She seemed in a daze. He had to think of the solution. What solution did he have to a bleeding that no magic could stop?  
>He grabbed her. He put his hand under her neck and her knees and lifted her up along with the blanket she was tangled in. He helped her get her arm around his neck as he checked the sheet around her wrist. There was nothing he could do. Just this.<p>

Except from the Book of Shadow Spells

…The healing process is an altruistic one. The wizard or sorcerer that practices it absorbs the pain onto themselves draining it out of the body of the injured. Since they have magical properties they can dissolve it and rid of it while in their system

.…However it should be known that every curse is different and acts by special laws. Actually, each curse is a law unto itself. On the other hand, no matter the power, no matter the person casting it, each and every curse can be broken. Most of the time all that is needed is the recreation of the exact time, place and ingredients. Some curses have a time limit, usually linked to an important date of nature, like the winter or summer solstice, the full moon or the solar eclipse.  
>But, there are also powerful curses that need slightly more. Well, that is an understatement.<br>What I mean is that, how to break the curse is not the only question you should be asking. But, what will you have to sacrifice in order to break it?

…the transferring spell

It is one of the simplest spells, but it can be used in so many occasions. This beneficial usage of it is what actually makes it really powerful. By means of it, you can transfer anything from one person to another. But the prize is great. Both people have to have an equally important part to give away or else it can never work… 


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- Fight, Kahlan, fight**

'Just stay here, ok?' Richard ordered Cara and his bodyguards before going into his room.

He opened the door slightly with the one hand that was free. He needed only to push it open. Ostensibly Kahlan knew he would be back soon. She was sitting on their bed with her face buried on her hands. He walked in slowly as if the girl on his arms were asleep.  
>'Richard!' Kahlan bolted up and saw Lily in his arms. 'Dear spirits, what happened to her?'<br>'I don't know.' Richard whispered sitting on the side of the bed, with Lily still in his arms. She had fallen asleep. Somehow, the bleeding had stopped. Not completely, but the herb the surgeon had given her to keep her coagulation strong seemed to have worked. He checked the bandage. It was still bloody, but it was clogging. Slowly.  
>Kahlan sat by his side and kissed his exhausted cheek.<br>'Is she gonna be alright?' she whispered taking the hair from her face. She didn't want to move her from Richard's arms either.  
>'I don't know, my love. This time I really don't.'<br>'It's my fault, isn't it?' Kahlan asked wailing without eyeing her.  
>With his free hand he grabbed her chin and made her look at him.<br>'It was kinda your fault.' he didn't leave any pause less she would misunderstand. 'She's as stubborn as you are.' He finally presented a little smile stolen out of the claws of weariness.  
>She smiled at him, too, her special sparkly smile that tangled with the gentle corners of her lips. They shone attractively in the twilight colors embracing their room.<br>'What happened?' Kahlan finally asked locking her gaze away from him.  
>'She found a book in the Keep that apparently helped her take Nicholas's curse from him.' Richard said sadly.<br>'What? Does it mean the baby will have it too?' Kahlan panicked and instinctively put her hand on her belly. Despite the fact that she did not want to appear the kind of obsessed-with being-a-mother kind of woman, her child became her priority from the moment she knew she was real. However deciding between her daughter the baby, and her daughter Lily seemed the unsolvable dilemma.  
>'No, I don't think so. It clings to the body, not to the soul.' Richard said trying to get her to sit down by his side again, so he could soothe her spirit.<br>'What do you mean to the body?' Kahlan asked taking the place he offered by tapping the bed cover next to him. She sat down and put her head on his shoulder.  
>'Lily is a kind of a genius, sweetheart. I guess she takes that from me.' Richard tried to defuse the situation. She gave him a gentle slap on his arm and then planted a kiss right after and put her head back on his shoulder.<br>'Well, long story short she performed a transferring spell. It is very simple. It's like I put on your bracelet and you put on my ring and I do the spell they get exchanged.'  
>'She could do that even with something not malleable, not touchable for that matter?' Kahlan asked playing with Lily's fingers gently not wanting to wake her up. She had her eyes locked on her bandage.<br>'Well, yeah. It is sort of the same thing. However she had to give up something of herself to drain the curse from Nicholas as in the example. I mean I could not do the spell if you weren't as well wearing my ring.' Kahlan nodded her understanding so he continued.  
>'According to what Zedd had read in that book, the thing offered has to be as important.'<br>Kahlan avoided asking about Zedd's involvement, lest she realized he had helped Lily do that. The bandage over her wrist was bad enough to make her angry.  
>'As important as a curse? What did she do?' she asked fearing the answer.<br>'She decided to give up her …'  
>'What? I thought she couldn't rid of it, I thought…'<br>'Wait, Kahlan. I am not finished. She couldn't do it because empathy, just like Confessor's power is a power of the soul, whereas her gift is a power of the blood. Therefore of the body, not the spirit.'  
>'So she gave up her gift?' Kahlan asked shocked.<br>Richard nodded. He noticed Lily batting her lashes. She was waking up.  
>'But since we have a very altruistic little girl,' he said elbowing her to open her eyes. 'When Nicholas hurt his hand in the morning, she was hurt too and because of the curse she felt it too.'<p>

Lily blinked her eyes open. She shook her head before the images came into focus. Richard.  
>'Richard, I swear I didn't do it, myself, I mean I didn't try to kill myself or something.' she eyed Kahlan. 'Kahlan I swear I would never do that to your chi…' she stopped and her eyes met the floor.<br>To go past the uneasiness, Kahlan grabbed her hand.  
>'It's OK. We know it wasn't your fault.' she whispered.<br>'You do?' Lily asked through watery eyes. She met Richard's gaze avoiding to look at Kahlan's body in the process.  
>He nodded.<br>'I don't know how you did it, but Nicholas seems fine. And as long as you don't have any cuts, you are fine.' he tried to convince himself absently looking at the moon. Almost.  
>'I'm gonna be fine.' Lily said with a dismissive sign of her hand, but Richard grabbed her hand and showed her, her bandaged wrist.<br>'Does this look fine to you?' Richard asked sternly.  
>'Richard.' Kahlan said with an appeasing tone.<br>'I am sorry.' Lily admitted. 'I only tried to help…Ouch!' she almost shouted embracing her elbow around her belly.  
>'What is it, Lily?' Richard asked.<br>She stared at Kahlan instead, as if she had not heard him.  
>'Kahlan, are you OK?'<br>She looked at Richard. Lily voiced her pain once more.  
>'Richard, the baby…'<br>He looked at her alarmingly.  
>'It's coming…' Kahlan said clutching her hand to her belly.<p>

-  
>'Cara you realize this is the only way to prevent a lot of pain and maybe danger as well?' Lily said. Cara was really hard to persuade.<br>'But I would have to lie to Richard. He could help if he knew.' she insisted.  
>'Cara, the girl is right. We don't know who the impostor is. We can't let Richard know. He is only thinking about Kahlan now. He would rip the castle apart brick by brick till he found her.' Zedd put in.<br>'Zedd's right, Cara. Finding a Sister of the Dark that knows how to cover her tracks is not that simple.' Lily gathered.  
>'OK, I will help you, but you better make sure you be nice to me and not make me change your dippers when you come back as a baby.' Cara replied in a deadly serious tone, but both Zedd and Lily burst out laughing.<br>'When you're ready to stop the incessant babbling,' Cara said impishly while walking ahead. 'you can come help me find and kill this incredibly stupid Sister of the Dark.'

She gasped. It hurt. It hurt more than anything she had ever experienced. Her green eyes started filling with tears with every wash of pain that went through Kahlan's body.  
>'Cara's right.' she thought to herself. 'Being an empath sucks.'<br>That was the only coherent thought she was able to form. She wanted it to stop, she wanted it to stop so she could enjoy it longer, life; she wanted to enjoy that kind of life longer than that. There were so many things she still wanted to do. She had lived with Richard and Kahlan only for a while and in all that time they had had to deal with all that pain and sorrow, that now she couldn't think of anything else.

She was curled up on the carpet, lying on her stomach. She could see her fingers through the strands of her hair that had fallen on her face, but those fingers, she didn't feel them anymore. She fixed her eyes on a spot in the wall, but she couldn't really look at it. The pain was blinding. Tears left her eyes delicately and trailed down her cheeks falling off the bridge of her nose.  
>It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Each breath seemed to exhaust the air remaining in her lungs. She couldn't inhale anymore; she was living up with the little air remaining.<p>

Suddenly, she heard the door crack. She wasn't able to move her eyes, not to talk about her body, but she saw Richard's boots coming toward her. He fell to his knees next to her, tears rushing down his cheeks as well.  
>'My beautiful baby girl. What's happening to you?'<br>Lily gathered all the strength, all the strength she knew she would need later, but she decided to forfeit it for _one_ little moment of peace. It took great effort for her to move her hand, but she did and grabbed Richard's hand and squeezed it tight. Every single contraction felt like a knife going through her back slowly. She squeezed Richard's hand tighter in angst.  
>Her gaze lost focus for one moment as another flash of pain cut through her. He squeezed her hand back. She was feeling more and more tired.<br>'Ka…Kahlan?' she managed to make her lips pronounce.  
>Richard lifted her head from the carpet and put it on his lap. She looked at him again through her watery green eyes.<br>'She's tired, baby, very tired.' His tears fell on her face, but when he noticed, he immediately wiped them away, not wanting to upset her any longer.  
>'Fi…ght…Fight!' she said, but his puzzled expression told her, he didn't understand.<br>Her body was going rigid with each passing moment. He caressed her face, taking the hair away. She looked at him for another moment and then pushed him away. She knew that each breath was closer to the last.  
>'Go!' she said taking the same position she had had before he entered, with her eyes at the door.<br>He looked at her sadly. She labored to breathe, but her lungs burned in her chest every time she tried to.  
>He kissed her brow as all his body was trembling as well.<br>'Please…' Lily begged when he had nearly reached the door. Her eyes were half closed, tears still wetting her eye sockets. 'Tell her…' the words were like a sword going through her stomach. 'fight.' She closed her eyes for one second, envisioning a quiet place in her mind. 'Tell Kahlan…fight!'

Richard saw her breaths getting shallower. Her eyelids were becoming heavy to lift. Spirits, he wanted to stay, but if Lily was leaving, he had to prevent Kahlan from doing that as well. He looked at Lily once again. She was whispering something, he saw her lips move, and knew he had to run.

'Noooo!' Kahlan's scream cut through his heart.  
>'The baby is in distress. You have to push.' The midwife kept saying.<br>'I can't. I can't.' Kahlan replied absently moving her head from one side to the other. Sweat was running down her brow and her hair stuck at it.  
>'Please, sweetheart. Just another one.' Richard begged her kissing her hand in both of his.<br>'I…can't. It hurts…' tears were rushing down her cheeks falling on her neck, on the pillow, on her hand, as she tried to dry them away. It felt like her whole body was being cut in a thousand pieces, like a thousand swords stabbing her from the inside out.  
>She screamed again and bumped back into the pillow.<br>'I'm failing her.' She said as she gasped for air. The hiccups caught the air in her throat. 'Where's she?' she asked deliriously.  
>Richard felt helpless. If only magic could help.<br>'Kahlan. Kahlan, look at me.'  
>She locked her gaze on him even though she couldn't help it from wavering. She closed her eyelids from time to time, but nevertheless she tried with every fiber of her being to fix her tearful green eyes on him.<br>'She asked me to tell you sth.' he said squeezing her hand.  
>She felt another contraction and closed her eyes biting her lower lip. His face was next to hers, she didn't wanna scream, not this once.<br>'Fight, Kahlan, fight.' he said. She opened her eyes again and looked at him squeezing his hand so much, she was afraid she might break it. His hold didn't waver. He kissed her forehead. 'Fight my love, fight.'  
>She nodded, but the expression in her eyes contorted again as another contraction came.<br>The midwife stared at Richard. 'The baby needs oxygen. She's not making it. She's not strong enough.'  
>Richard's heart came to his throat. Kahlan was tired, she had wasted all her energies. She was weary.<br>He sat up in bed by her side lifting her body just a little and grabbing her shoulders while whispering in her ear.  
>'You're my strong Queen. You can't give up. Fight, Kahlan. Fight.'<br>Now he had grabbed both her hands, but he felt the grip get weaker and weaker and her breaths told him she had exhausted the last ounce of strength her body could afford. He eyed the midwife, but she shook her head sadly.  
>'No. Kahlan. Com'on.' He hadn't realized he had lost her grip. He moved her, shook her, but she didn't open her eyes. 'Kahlan, wake up. Kahlan, com'on.' his tears damped her face, as she occasionally opened her eyes.<br>'Kahlan, you can't leave me. You can't leave me. Kahlan.' he dropped to his knees next to her bed.  
>-<p>

Suddenly, she didn't feel any pain anymore. She rolled her eyes and felt lighter. She moved her fingers to give them sensibility and was glad to find out she was able to. She tried moving her head. She succeeded in that attempt as well. She swiped away the tear-drained loose strands of hair sticking to her face and was finally able to get up.  
>Only when she was standing did she realize why she felt better. There was a warm blanket of blinding white light that was moving fluidly up her body. It seemed like a milky liquid engulfing her legs and moving up. It was swallowing her gradually as if it were tailoring a dress around her soul. Lily tried to grab it only to find it malleable, like a foulard caressing her silky skin. She felt light-headed and then when the light reached her eyes, she was totally lost in it, she controlled it, she could do anything with it, travel with it. She knew exactly where she wanted to go: a few meters away, in Richard and Kahlan's room.<p>

-  
>'The baby's head is getting blue. You're cutting off his oxygen. Push, Mother Confessor. Now!' The midwife screamed.<p>

Her words, the sounds were all being absorbed by something before reaching Kahlan's ears. She could hear nothing or feel nothing anymore. She saw the midwife move her lips, but she couldn't focus her gaze on her words.

Then she noticed something taking shape in the horizon; light, warm bathing white light. In one moment it seemed like a door, and the next it seemed like a perpendicular cloud. She couldn't make it out and feared this was the end.  
>But, then, from the center of it, she saw the shape of person walking toward her with bare feet. Even though a part of her mind knew it wasn't so much of a distance, it seemed a great hall fit inside the little cloud in the middle of the room. Through the blinding flare, she made out Lily's smiley eyes. She looked like a naiad contoured by sea foam. Even though, Lily was all engulfed in the glare of white, Kahlan only remembered the time when she had worn the Confessor's dress. Now, she only seemed the playing of angels. She looked happy, beautiful and …healthy, her cheeks were full, her eyes sparkling, her dimples adding to the attractiveness of her features. She seemed a full moon shining during the day.<p>

'Fight, Kahlan, fight.' She said her tender look never leaving Kahlan's face. 'Please, Kahlan, fight.'  
>Kahlan looked at her bewildered as Lily grew closer. Suddenly, she wasn't in her bedroom anymore. She was neither standing, nor sitting, and she only then realized, to her great relief, that she wasn't feeling any pain.<br>'Lily?'  
>'Fight!' the words echoed around as she lost Lily's image from her focus. The world was starting to spin again. She longed to see Lily once more, but she couldn't seem to distinguish anything in the boring whiteness.<br>'Lily? Is that you?'  
>'Fight, mama, fight!'<p>

She snapped her eyes open, her iris in full glow. It took a few seconds for Richard to realize she was squeezing his hands again.  
>'Kahlan?'<br>She half turned her head toward him and through her frazzled look, she whispered laboriously. 'I love you. Richard…I…love you. If anything…hap…happens, I love you Richard.' She said. He kissed her right cheek as he still held her shoulders. He could feel her tense muscles under his body.

…Then she collapsed in his arms, breathing hard, as a powerful cry reverberated through the white marble of the wonderful Confessor's Palace.

The midwife held the little human on her arms and covered her with a blanket wiping clean her eyes and her mouth. Kahlan had grabbed Richard's hand forcefully as if waiting for a judge's verdict.  
>'It's a beautiful baby girl.' the midwife finally announced, still trying to clean her up. She took the baby to the other side of the room to wash her.<br>'Dear spirits, it's over.' Richard whispered giving Kahlan's lips a quick kiss.  
>She smiled despite the fatigue. She could hardly keep her eyes open. Richard kissed and hugged her, when suddenly he felt a presence in the room.<br>He immediately moved away from Kahlan, but she was too weary to question why. He stood up and eyed the room. The only thing that broke the silence was the baby's gentle cry. Richard went near the midwife and asked to wash her himself.  
>'But, m'lord, I can do it. That's what I am here for.' the midwife replied embarrassed.<br>'Oh, it's quite OK.' Richard smiled. 'I've done it before.'  
>However the midwife still seemed reluctant. Richard eyed her and then it dawned on him. There was magic in her eyes. He had felt it before, but he had been too worried about Kahlan to pay it any heed. He recognized in her the source of his worry.<br>Nevertheless, he couldn't let her know. Her hands were still on his child.  
>'Please, Miss Helen, you can show me what to do.' Richard said meanwhile eyeing the surroundings trying to find a way to take the baby and then take down the midwife.<br>"How couldn't I see it?" he reprimanded himself.  
>'But, Lord Rahl,' she insisted. 'You should stay with your wife. I can take care of her, and I will bring her to you shortly.'<br>'I want to see my baby, now.' he didn't raise his voice, but the authority in it was unmistakable.  
>'Well…' she said, and in the nick of the moment grabbed the baby from the bathtub and took her in her arms. 'The curse isn't completed yet, so I guess I can't give her to you. Not yet at least.'<br>'Curse? What curse? What are you talking about?' he said checking for the sword at his hip. Unfortunately it wasn't there. He had taken it off to sit near Kahlan so the hilt wouldn't hurt her.  
>'Well, the one that's gonna make her travel in time of course, so Jagang can kill her.' She whispered as if in the baby's ear.<br>'Helen, please let her go. I trusted you.' Kahlan said from her bed. She tried to get up, but her legs were too weary.  
>'Oh, I'm sorry Mother Confessor. Can't do that.' an evil grin spread through her face. 'And I wouldn't move, if I were you. You're gonna bleed to death soon enough.' She said.<p>

Kahlan froze. Richard's heart skipped a beat. In the heat of anger, he threw his hands on the woman, but a powerful blast of air pushed him away and he hit the wall.  
>'Richard!' Kahlan cried out.<p>

Richard stood up with effort and could see in the woman's eyes, the essence of her life, her Han which was making the air around her scintillate. He had to take the baby away from her arms. He moved his look to Kahlan and only then noticed the amount of blood on the blank cover of the bed. It was sickening.  
>'Helen, please, let the baby go and take me. I think Jagang would be very happy if you capture Lord Rahl.' Richard said stepping carefully toward her.<br>'I am Sister Helen.' she said sending another blast of air toward him. He was knocked down again.  
>When he made it to get up, he noticed Kahlan had as well. He tried to see if there was any blood on her, but her white night dress was covered in blood all over. Apparently Sister Helen hadn't noticed her, since she had her back to Kahlan. Kahlan tried a few steps, but she found it very difficult to walk. She kept her agonizing wails inside, biting her lips. And Richard knew Kahlan couldn't confess the woman. Even if she had the strength needed, she couldn't confess her while she was holding the baby or the baby would die.<br>'Back away Mother Confessor.' She turned to Kahlan and sent another sweep of air toward her. Kahlan fell to the floor with a cry.  
>Richard didn't hesitate. In one second, he grabbed the Sister's throat and caught her by surprise. He couldn't think of what would happen.<br>All the rest happened so fast. One second he had his hands on her throat and the next, the door smashed open by a blast of air.  
>Zedd.<br>Richard gave him thanks with his eyes and taking advantage of the confusion, took the baby from the Sister's arms. Just when she was about to use her power again, Cara came out from behind Zedd's back and pressed her Agiel on the Sister's carotid artery. She shrieked in pain and bent to her knees.  
>'No one touches Lord Rahl and gets away with it.' Cara shouted moving the Agiel to her cheek.<br>'Get her out of here.' Richard ordered trying to appease the shrieking baby on his arms.  
>'It's OK, sweetheart. You're gonna be OK.' he whispered on her ear.<br>The baby let out another cry and suddenly stopped to look at him. His heart came to this throat at the beauty she beheld. He had always said a baby was the miracle of life, but holding his own child on his arms, as she moved her puffy little hands sweetly in front of her face, was beyond bliss. His eyes filled with tears.  
>'Kahlan, she's so beautiful.' he said, but only after Cara brought out the Sister who was cursing under her breath, did he notice Kahlan on the floor. He left the baby in Zedd's hands and rushed to her.<br>'Kahlan, Kahlan wake up.' he said his panic rising with each passing moment. He went to his knees to help her up, but his knees got wet. Richard stared incredulously at the pool of blood on the wooden floor.  
>'Spirits, Kahlan. Kahlan wake up. I saved her. She's alright. Kahlan!'<br>Tears started running down his cheeks. Kahlan opened her eyes for a brief moment and murmured something he could not make out. She gave him a small smile.  
>He put one arm under her neck and the other under her knees to help her up, but he was shocked when something warm embraced his arm. There was a great amount of blood coursing down between her thighs. Richard panicked. He lifted her in his arms, but her head hanged limp. He put her gently on the bed.<br>The smell of blood got to his mind. All he could see was blood.  
>There was blood on her dress, on the bed cover, on her hands, on his hands.<br>Blood. Her blood.  
>She briefly opened her eyes again and moved her blood-soaked hand to cup his face.<br>'Richard…'  
>'Oh spirits, please, no. Kahlan don't leave me. Kahlan!' tears came out of his eyes rushing down his cheeks and from his nose onto her hands and her face.<br>'I love you…Richard.' She said opening her eyes again as if for the last time. He caressed her face looking into her amazing green eyes, taking the strands of hair from her face.  
>'I love you, too. Very much.' He said kissing her. He kissed her eyes and her nose and then her lips, but her hand was no longer on his face.<br>'Kahlan, no!'

He separated from her and turned to Zedd. Zedd's look made Richard's heart sink. Richard didn't need to ask a question; Zedd was shaking his head in resignation.  
>'There has to be something I can do.' He said moving his hand on his hair before noticing it was covered in blood.<br>Kahlan's blood.  
>He stared off at the door where he noticed Berdine holding the baby, silent tears coming from her eyes. He tried to think.<br>'Berdine, please take the baby away.' He said surprisingly calmly, his voice emotionless.  
>'But, Lord Rahl…' her voice was shaking, very unusual for a Mord-Sith.<br>'You heard me. You know her power. She can feel what happens to Kahlan…' his voice trailed off. When Berdine didn't move, he shouted: 'Get her out of here.'

Zedd paused a while before uttering another word. 'Richard…'  
>Richard had his back on him. He sat down on the floor, kissing Kahlan's hand.<br>'I gave my orders, Zedd. Now leave me alone. All of you.' he couldn't speak anymore, knowing he'd burst out crying.  
>'Richard, you know better than anyone that… Lily feels what happens to both of you even if she is a thousand miles away. Maybe…you should let her say …goodbye to her mother.' He said.<p>

Richard turned his gray eyes to him as if weighing his words. Then he stared at the crying baby in Berdine's arms. No coherent thoughts came to his mind in that moment.  
>'Richard.' Kahlan murmured in a small voice, almost a whisper. 'Please…please…Richard…let me hold her.' She said as tears meandered down her cheeks through the sweat of exhaustion and the clotted blood.<br>Richard got up still looking at her, as if fearing she'd slip away if he rolled his eyes. Then he went to the door and took the baby gently from Berdine's arms.  
>'I am sorry Lord Rahl.' She whispered in a broken voice, keeping her eyes down, fearing his answer.<br>He looked at her trying to voice a 'thank you' that didn't come. But, Berdine didn't need one. Her heart broke at the sight of despair in his eyes.

The baby stopped crying as soon as she touched Richard's arms. She stared at him lovingly which made Berdine's tears come out without control. She rushed out of the room and after Zedd left too, all she could hear was the bang of the door.

-  
>'Talk to me.' Cara yelled at the woman recoiled on the floor. There were blood spills everywhere and the woman had bruises all over.<br>'Then it's over with you.' Cara said putting the Agiel on her heart. Just when she thought she would drop dead on the floor, Berdine stormed in and took her Agiel away.  
>'Cara, don't.' she shouted. In the small light of the room, Cara didn't notice the dried tears in Berdine's eyes.<br>'What are you doing?' Cara yelled till her voice got hoarse.  
>'Don't kill her. Not yet.' Berdine said calmly. If she had the light necessary, Cara would have noticed the flash that illuminated Berdine's eyes. Revenge.<br>'I am gonna make her regret the day her parents ever thought of conceiving a child.' Berdine replied and Cara smiled sadly hitting the woman again with the Agiel.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15-In her shoes **

**T**he rays of moonlight got fractured over the blue-night fine line of the lake. They danced on its surface teasing it, and then fled back reflected backwards to the source. She drank in the sweet scents of the night; enjoyed the silence, the peace, and savored the breeze caressing her face.  
>This place was… dreamlike, empty even of illusion because it seemed like a slice of a dream.<br>This place was… reason-robbing.  
>She looked around caressing the surrounding with her tender gaze. It was the lake Richard had brought her to. She closed her eyes trying to flash back the memory.<p>

'Dad?' the voice came from around the bushes.  
>A girl followed it. Slim with perfectly white skin. Around ten years of age. Kahlan looked at her silently.<br>Lily.  
>'Dad?' she called again.<br>She was wearing a blue dress.  
>Another one.<br>Kahlan found herself smiling. Almost all of Lily's dresses were blue, different shades, but still blue.  
>Her favorite color and Richard's too.<br>Kahlan moved her look along with Lily's hoping to catching a glimpse of Richard.  
>'Dad, you can't escape on my birthday!' she reprimanded the shadows hoping one of them would materialize into him.<br>'Com'on Dad, you know I can feel you're here.' she smiled putting her hands on her hips taking an apparently menacing expression. 'Dad?'

-  
>Somebody was crying. No, screaming. No, actually shrienking.<br>She tried to blink her tears away. When that didn't work, she moved the back of her hand. At her astonishment, her left hand was free of blood.  
>'Stop saying that Kahlan, please.' Richard said.<br>'Say what?' she asked hoarsely. As soon as her words left her lips the crying stopped.  
>'You just said I should go on without you.' Richard replied looking very worried.<br>'Oh…'  
>She licked her dry lips. She rolled her eyes around. Who was it that had been crying? Her look finally settled on the baby Richard was holding on his left arm.<br>'Richard, she's…' her tears rushed uncontrollably out of her corners of her eyes. 'Spirits, she's so beautiful.'  
>Richard swallowed the tears. He could not think straightforward right now. A minute before she had not even lay eyes on the baby trying to convince him that it was fine that at least the baby was safe. Even if it meant she would leave him. He put the baby on Kahlan's arm as gently as possible trying not to make her cry anymore.<br>'She's so…beautiful.' Kahlan managed to say moving the baby little fingers. 'Oh, Richard she's so beautiful.' she tried to swallow past the lump in her throat and to blink away the tears so as to seem strong.  
>'Richard!' her tears sliced his heart to pieces. He understood. She didn't want to leave. Despite the pain, a light, almost unbearable note of relief played on his soul.<br>She was dizzy again.  
>'Richard, you hold her…' she swallowed.<p>

It was as if darkness was devouring her, just like when one is very sleepy and reality starts to fade…

-  
>'Com'on Dad!' Lily insisted.<br>Kahlan blinked again. She put her hand over her heart. It was beating. Where was she?  
>'Got you!' Richard got out from behind Lily's back tickling her. Her giggles echoed in the air. Kahlan found herself tearing over that sweet sound.<br>'Daddy, please stop. Ok, ok!' he lifted her up.  
>'So, you want to go to the party, huh?' he asked seriously.<br>'Well, kinda. It's my birthday you know.' she replied mischievously.  
>'Five? Seven?' Richard asked playfully.<br>'Dad!' Lily slapped him gently on the arm.  
>'Oh, wait I got it, eight, right?'<br>'Dad!' the tone was unmistakably authoritative and the frown on her face made Kahlan burst out laughing. 'I'm ten.'  
>'Oh, when did you become ten? Last time I saw you, you were this tall.' he teased showing her two fingers.<br>'Well, today I got ten, Daddy, whether you like it or not.' she replied tossing her head on the other side like a little lady feigning to be angry with him.

'Richard?' Kahlan tried to get his attention.  
>He did move his head, but his gaze didn't focus on her.<br>'Richard?'

-  
>'Yes, Kahlan, what is it?'<br>She willed her eyes open again. Richard was taking the baby from her arms, but he kept her next to Kahlan. Kahlan grabbed his hand.  
>'I love you, Richard, so much.' she whispered the last words tenderly.<br>If only he could ignore the sight of blood, the smell, her weariness, the sweat, the tears and just look into her eyes, she would seem -for one long moment- his Kahlan, the Kahlan before any of this happened. He tried. He had to.  
>Her eyes didn't display any of the things around.<br>Just love. Only love. Simply love.  
>Through her eyes he could see his forever-lasting Kahlan. She had to last forever. She was his.<br>She had to last forever.  
>'I love you, Kahlan, so much.' he replied managing to smile.<p>

The room was drowning in an annoying yellow light. Kahlan rolled her eyes past Richard.

Reality started to look like a parched scroll which had been lost underground for thousands of years. Reality, as she knew it, took on the dirt, the smell, the dry smell of ancient, and the dull tinges of almond as a parchment. As if wax was dripping over her world…

-  
>'So can we go now, Dad?' Lily asked walking a few meters in front of him. She seemed in a hurry.<br>Before Richard could answer, Kahlan called him again.  
>'Richard?'<br>He turned his head.  
>'You know what sweetheart? You go on and I'll be there in a moment.'<br>Richard expected her to complain that they were already late, but she just turned toward him and scanned his eyes for a brief moment.  
>'Ok, Dad.' she rushed to embrace her arms around his waist.<br>Then she walked beside Ulic, Egan and Cara. Richard took a few steps toward the lake.  
>'Dad?' he heard her call him. He turned behind. She gave him a heartfelt smile.<br>'Luna?'  
>Kahlan stared at him. He had named her Luna.<br>'Tell Mama I love her.'  
>'How did you…' he started asking as she smiled making him realize the amount of her power of empathy again.<p>

-  
>'I love you too, Lily.' she whispered.<br>Richard stared at her.  
>'Kahlan? Please don't leave me, please. I can't make it without you.'<br>She blinked bewildered. _'Where am I?'_screamed in her head.

Then she saw something coming from the baby's hands.  
>'Richard?'<br>He was staring at her too.  
>'Richard, what's happening?' she asked panicky.<br>Richard tried to appease her, but the child kept screaming. There was blue light coming from her hands.  
>'I don't …'<br>The baby screamed and kept moving her hands and legs out of the blanket. Richard stared at Kahlan for a moment. Then without warning put the baby on her right arm, the one that didn't hurt. The baby stopped crying.

But, the magic didn't.

Richard walked silently toward the sparkling lake. He tried to remember everything in detail, the day he had been there with Kahlan. He felt conflicted. He hated that day. But, at the same time there was something about this place that reminded him of Kahlan so much. It was like her scent was ingrained in the very air. He missed her fragrance so much and it seemed like when he was there and felt that aroma, she was there too.  
>He took a deep breath.<br>He cast a glance backwards to see if she had left. He knew he would get her sad so he swallowed down his pain so his daughter Luna wouldn't have to feel like he did.  
>He opened the side of his cloak and took out a white rose.<br>Kahlan got next to him. She had given up calling him, so she just wanted to stay close to him.  
>'I love you Kahlan, so much.' he said and gently took the petals from the rose and threw them on the lake. 'Only you.'<br>'I love you, too, Richard!' she cried. 'Please don't leave me. I don't wanna leave you.' she collapsed to her knees. 'I don't want to leave you…'

As soon as she was conscious, even before opening her eyelids, her nostrils were caressed by a gentle smell. She couldn't make it out.  
>'I don't wanna leave you.' she said plainly. Surprisingly her voice was steady. She stood on her elbows. 'Richard?'<br>He was looking right into her eyes. He smiled, didn't say anything and kissed her. Fast, longingly, passionately, happily. Kissed her again and again.  
>He lied by her side and kissed everything he could on her for a few moments.<br>'What happened?' she managed to steal a word between his kisses.  
>'That little girl of ours, spirits, I don't know, but she saved you.' he smiled planting a kiss on her hand.<br>'I know.' she said.  
>'You do?'<br>He grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers as he put his head on her chest.  
>'I think she gave me a dream. A memory…'<br>'What do you mean?' he looked at her from under his lashes.  
>'Remember when Shota said that her memories would flourish after we told her the truth? Somehow that didn't happen which protected her from death.'<br>'Yeah, Amaryllis explained it, because when you told her, you weren't doing it for us, but to save her life. Which was great by the way.' he kissed her again.  
>'Richard, maybe she was here to save me, you know.' she bit her lips thoughtfully.<br>'So what did you see?' he asked.  
>She looked at him.<br>'Your life…without me.'  
>He stood on his elbows and kissed her.<br>'We won't have to go through that.'  
>She nodded.<br>'Still…she made me wanna live. I love you, so much, I didn't wanna lose out on any second, with you or with…our daughter.'  
>They kissed her again.<br>'We should name her.' she smiled deviously.  
>'Name her? She already has a name, my love.'<br>'You had named her Luna.' she said smiling warmly. 'In the dream-memory, you know, you had named her Luna, like she said once.'  
>He smiled confused. 'So what do we do?'<p>

A knock on the door echoed around. Cara came in and to both Kahlan and Richard's astonishment she was holding the baby on her arms. Berdine came behind her just making sure Cara wouldn't break her or something.  
>'I'm not sure I've ever seen you without gloves.' Kahlan told Cara.<br>'Well I am glad you're here to see that, Mother Confessor.' Cara smiled. It suited her.  
>She put the baby on Kahlan's arms quickly trying to take her by surprise.<br>'Hey baby girl.' Kahlan greeted her with a kiss on her forehead and on her little fingers.  
>'Don't bother to count her fingers Mother Confessor.' Berdine put in. 'Cara already did.' she concluded elbowing Cara.<br>'Well, ten fingers, ten toes, like promised.' Cara shrugged.  
>Everybody burst out laughing.<br>'Lily, sweetie, why don't you say hello to Aunt Cara, here?' Richard said kissing the baby as well. Kahlan embraced him with her smile. _'Lily!'  
><em>'Guys, Cara? An Aunt? Seriously?' Zedd said coming in.

The laughter got imprinted in the cold stone walls to echo around endlessly; to make that place forever their home.

**_This is pretty much the story. I did want to add an epilogue, but I don't know...maybe I will. _**

**_Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!_**


	16. Epilogue

**For those who already read my story, I just wanna say thanks for the reviews and everything. It's a long time since I wanted to conclude this story with Kahlan's way of coping, psychologically speaking, so here it is. Hope it ends its sweetly as it did for me!**

**To all readers: thanks!**

EPILOGUE

**Theirs ?**

_Lily was easy to love.  
>She was cute and kind and caring of what other people felt like because of her actions. She was sweet and had a pair of tender eyes that could break even a cold-hearted soldier's soul. She was a quick learner and she fought for what she believed in. She never backed down when she knew she would help even though all she could carry around for the moment was her teddy bear.<br>It was impossible not to love her.  
>It was impossible not to adore her.<em>

_She did love her. Very much. More than she had ever thought humanly possible.  
>More than her own existence. More than all the books of the Keep could say.<br>As much, and more than Richard. _

_She loved her hands and her smile and her eyes. And her strawberry smell and her little dresses and her bedtime stories and her first steps and her giggles embedded in the walls of the castle and the sound of her breathing.  
><em>_**Everything!**__  
>How could you not love everything about her?<em>

'I had always thought it would be different; the pregnancy and everything. It all happened so fast.' she sighed to herself.  
>'Well, at least you are safe and she is as well.' he replied planting a kiss on her brow as he embraced her.<br>'Yeah.' was all the answer she granted him.

She felt ashamed of it, that feeling that started eating into those empty moments between her thoughts. It was a violating feeling trying to convince her of a lie.  
>But was it really a lie?<br>'Kahlan?' he asked carefully looking out for little Lily who was dancing among the snowflakes in the roses garden spreading giggles that seemed to melt winter's cold heart.  
>'Huh?' she replied with her eyes fixed on Lily. Even though she wanted to avoid being hyper protective, she couldn't take her eyes off.<br>'I know what you're thinking and believe me, it's her.'

Kahlan froze. She had never thought he would guess. Maybe because he felt the same way? But… he was denying it, wasn't he? So, how come he knew?

'I… Richard…' no coherent words came to her lips so she just hoped he would fill in the emptiness.  
>He turned her towards him. She obeyed while making sure Lily was within earshot.<br>'She's the same, Kahlan. You can't keep doing this to yourself.' He said without wanting to voice the actual problem.  
>Kahlan was glad he didn't. It was shameful, she didn't want to feel that way, she didn't want to wonder.<br>But she did wonder.

She didn't reply to him, so he waited. He wanted her to be convinced, but … he couldn't do that. The only one that could was Lily… but, she was just four. Empathy or not, she was still a kid.  
>'I am so sorry.' Kahlan replied, her embarrassed eyes down as her shoulders started shaking under this hands while tears meandered down her face.<br>He embraced her trying to think of a way, of something Lily had said when first in the castle, of a kind of symbol, or sign, but nothing came.

And then his heart skipped a beat.  
><em>The silence.<em>  
>He couldn't hear Lily anymore.<p>

'Kahlan, can you see her?' he asked panicky.  
>Her tears came to a halt and the world was on pause for the both of them. They cast a glance at the garden. She was gone.<br>'Lily? Lily come out sweetie! It's no time to play.' Kahlan shouted her name but only the deafening howl of the wind replied giving her the goosebumps.  
>Richard called for Cara and Berdine who were only a couple of meters away and they started searching the garden.<br>'She's gonna be okay. Don't worry sweetheart.' Richard told Kahlan while squeezing her hand. She didn't reply, but called Lily instead.

If she stopped to think, she's collapse on the floor crying.  
>It was her fault.<br>The spirits were punishing her for ever forming such monstrous thoughts. But it wasn't fair to take it out on her little girl. She shouldn't have wondered. Lily was her daughter, maybe not "her" but she was her daughter, the baby she carried for nine months in her womb, the one she talked to when she couldn't even listen.  
>How could she even think for one second that this Lily wasn't her Lily, the teenage Lily, the one that had saved her life?<br>How could she even think that?

The train of her thoughts was broken abruptly by a sudden cry.  
>She slipped out of Richards hand and ran towards the woods letting her feet guide her, or better to say her heart.<br>It was Lily who was crying near a little pond Kahlan didn't even know existed. Her hands had cuts all over and there was some blood on them. Kahlan sat by her side terrified. Her hands were dead cold.  
>'Sweetie, mama's here, okay? Don't worry! Ok, baby?' she tried to calm Lily down, but she wasn't screaming anymore. Her tears fell like pearls on her furry coat.<br>Richard appeared behind Kahlan while she tried to clean Lily's hand as she warmed them up with her own coat. Lily lifted her arms toward Richard feigning some other tears.  
>'Okay baby girl, let's take you inside and you're gonna be fine. Okay?' he said while Lily had embraced her arms around his neck putting her tired head on his shoulder.<br>Kahlan smiled at Richard with relief. He patted Lily's back, but suddenly she turned towards them and handed Kahlan a white rose and a water lily. The rose thongs had cut her hands; that was where the blood came from.  
>Kahlan's jaw dropped open as her eyes filled with tears.<p>

Whereas Richard's eyes shone happily.  
>This was it.<br>The liaison. Everything about Lily from her conception to her years of life was connected to those two flowers.  
>He was sure by Kahlan's expression that she knew too; and by the color of her cheeks that there was some guilt on her soul in that moment.<p>

'Who's that for, sweetheart?' he asked Lily while trying to get her long hair inside her hat.  
>'For mama.' She replied simply eyeing Kahlan as if scared she would shout.<br>Kahlan hadn't spoken yet or taken the flower for that matter.

'Why did you hurt your hands to get it?' Richard tried asking when Kahlan didn't move.  
>'Cos they're for mama.' Lily replied again showing her insistence by tapping her feet, but since she was suspended in mid-air in Richard's arms, the air was all she could hit.<br>Kahlan's eyes returned to her as she picked the flowers from Lily's hand murmuring enough syllables of the word "thank you" as to be heard, but carefully choosing the vowels so as for Lily not to realize she was crying.  
>Richard landed Lily on her arms planting a kiss of both theif foreheads and giving Kahlan a meaningful look of "I told you so."<br>She smiled and embraced her little baby tight.

'Tell me again, what I am Mama.' Lily asked as Kahlan brushed her long dark hair carefully.  
>'My little girl.' Kahlan replied having a look around to spot Richard.<br>'What else Mama?' she insisted tapping her little foot on the floor impatiently.  
>'Aydindril's Confessor.' Kahlan replied.<br>'What else?'  
>'My little Princess. And your Dad's little Princess, too.'<br>'C'mon Mama, what else?'  
>Kahlan grabbed her shoulders and whispered lovingly in her ear.<br>'You're the best part of me.'  
>Lily smiled satisfied throwing her little arms around Kahlan's neck.<br>'That's it, Mama. That's what I am. ' 


End file.
